Sonic the Hedgehog: The Prophesy of Chaos
by Harvestboy Goobus
Summary: MOVED FROM FORMER NAME OF HARVESTBOY AND HARVEST GIRL
1. Introduction

**Sonic the Hedgehog: Prophesy of Chaos**

**Introduction**

Okay, here's the deal. I've never written a Sonic fanfiction before. Never even _thought_ about it before I met my inspiration. In fact… this story wasn't really even my idea to start! It actually belongs to my girlfriend. She thought it up back when she was about six years old. But her ideas were fairly skeletal. Just the very basics.

I took that skeleton of a plot, with the help of my girlfriend, and turned it in to what you see.

I'm writing this introduction so a chapter or two from now, you won't be saying "Where's Sonic?! I thought this story was about him! Not about some snot-nosed teenager named Edgar!"

I won't go into the gory details, because I don't want to give away the plot! But I'll say this: you've never seen Sonic quite like this… and if you have, I had no clue!

It starts on the last day of school for 15-year old Edgar Wilsans (Crazy name, huh? Well, his name has a purpose!)—a time of joy, happiness, and… a full-scale attack?

Yes, that's right, someone (I'm pretty sure you can guess who) launches a full-scale attack on the city of Mobius. Using robots, this person overruns the people of the city and kills them all or _worse_. There are rumors of a strange machine called a Roboticizer flying around, and I'm sure it won't be very fun for those who aren't murdered in the attack.

This story takes elements from many places. SatAM (the Sonic cartoon that went on for a while that was awesome), Sonic Adventure 2 (sorry, haven't played the original _yet_!), Sonic X (Anime Sonic cartoon in Japan), and maybe even a tad from that anime movie… well, not much from the movie. I hated everything in it besides SPOILERS the fight with MechaSonic.

Many favorite characters will make an appearance and if you're lucky, a few originals too! And yes, Sonic our fun-loving Hedgehog will make an appearance… or maybe he already has, but it's hard to tell. Wanna hear something cool? …You do? …Well too bad! You can read the story and you'll probably find out what cool thing I'm talking about!

So, here's what I want you to do. Look down and find the chapter/menu bar. Click on the chapter that says "Dark Intentions". Read the story. And of course, don't forget to review!

--Ben


	2. Dark Intentions

**Chapter 1: Dark Intentions**

_The Indians have told stories of how human would become one with animals' spirits. How they would take on characteristics of those very animals. Courage. Strength. Sight. Alertness. Smell. Speed._

_It was all a farce, of course. Animals were animals. Humans were humans. They each had their own characteristics and that couldn't change. Not by the methods of these Indians, anyway._

_Years ago. Before the first real human civilization; before the first city; and before the first law code was drawn up. Back when strange beasts roamed the earth beside the humans, there was a prophecy. It spoke of the ones who would save the world one day by taking on the characteristics of certain animals._

_Back then, that prophecy was looked upon as undisputed fact. In fact, anywhere you saw a tablet or writing with that prophecy on it, you were under law to kneel down and say a prayer of thanks for it… but this was before writing. This was before law... of the humans, anyway._

_But soon humans prospered. They grew in numbers and in intelligence. The creatures that had written this and that had prayed for this became under their control._

_But in bitterness toward the humans, the prophecies were destroyed. All were destroyed except the very original. The race of creatures would never allow humans to know that prophecy. They would be blind to it._

_But to every child of that race, the prophecy was taught. For generations, this prophecy was passed on. But soon, the humans became greedy. They wanted more power and although this other race was under their feet already, they desired that there was no chance to an uprising. Ever. So they killed the race. Everyone, save a few hundred that escaped and lived in hiding, was killed._

_More generations passed. Thousands of years went on. The humans forgot about the strange race—the race of the human-animal mutants. From history to story to legend to myth to bedtime story. Soon it was forgotten completely._

_But the few hundred that escaped lived on. They didn't prosper. They couldn't afford to let themselves be known again, so they lived in limited numbers. They stayed in deep forests and jungles. They lived amongst the creatures of the wild and they for the most part lived like them._

_The years went on and they felt that the time of the prophecy was coming near. They started dispersing around the world, looking for the Ones that would fulfill it._

_A fatal mistake it was. Divide and conquer. They refused to let themselves grow to high numbers and by dispersing they were at a loss. They couldn't live on if they couldn't reproduce. And so the race dwindled. From thousands to hundreds. From hundreds to one last family. A family of Echidnas. They had stuck together instead of splitting apart. They were the keepers of the Chaos Emeralds. Although they didn't realize it at the time, those very Rings that would play a major part in the prophecy._

_That family came upon a small town. And there… as the father of the family breathed his last, they stopped looking._

_They settled underground, digging tunnels hundreds of feet underground. They were the last of the race without a name and they would die that way. They would die isolated and alone._

It was a beautiful day in the city of Mobius, Indiana. Actually, dark rain clouds bordered the horizon and there was a strong and cold wind from the east. But it was still a beautiful day to Edgar Wilsans. It was the last day of school. And as he sat in his last sophomore class, waiting for that stupid bell to ring, he couldn't help but to wonder if this was the year he was going to ask Summer Anderson out.

Summer had been his best friend since kindergarten. With her shoulder length auburn hair, emerald green eyes, and perfect skin, she was breath taking. At least, that's what he thought in kindergarten. Now, ten years later, she was all that and ten times more.

Edgar had short brown hair so dark that unless it was in light, it looked black. He had deep brown eyes that shone with the joy of being a constant optimist. There's nothing he couldn't put a good spin on. Even when Summer's parents had divorced years before, he had managed to make her see the 'silver lining'. There was _nothing_ he couldn't smile about... Well, except for his own name. Even though he pretended to enjoy its uniqueness, he despised his name with a passion. But his mother just _had_ to name him after his—what was it? Grandfather's best friend's dog? Something like that. But at least it could be changed to the semi-better name of Eddie.

Eddie had loved Summer for years now. Starting back at kindergarten as a crush and escalating to the love he felt now. He had never spoken of those feelings though, because he knew she didn't return them. She loved him all right, but as a best friend. Nothing more.

His mask of total optimism faded slightly at those thoughts but as the bell rang its shrill good-bye, the thoughts were forgotten. It was summer break—a time of joy and endless possibilities. Maybe his greatest dream would be accomplished this summer, maybe not. He didn't know, but as always, he was optimistic. Always optimistic.

He was the first out of the classroom, although ironically he wasn't the fastest person around. In fact, most people would call him slow. He was out of shape, that's all it was. He had a wiry build and when it came to brute strength, he was a toothpick. He was also a bully magnet. And although he wasn't physically picked on much anymore, the names never ceased.

But Summer was always there to defend him when he didn't do it himself. She was always ready to stand up to whoever decided to verbally attack Eddie. She wasn't impressive in size and there's no way she could take on the bullies, yet she did it anyway. And that, of course, gave rise to another level of verbal abuse. _"What? Can't stand up for yourself, Ed-boy? Need to hide behind a girl?"_ Eddie never let that one bother him though. In fact, the names and ridicule hadn't fazed him for years now. He had gotten used to it and had decided to don the eternal optimist attitude.

Many bullies left him alone when they realized their jeers and mockery had no affect of him, but there was one that never did. Max Keepers—grade 'A' jerk. At 6' 2", he stood over a head taller than Eddie and he weighed over a 120 pounds more as well. All in muscle, of course. He had sandy blonde hair that often was left unkempt (although since it was so short, it was hardly noticed).

And now he stood in front of Eddie's locker, causing the smaller boy to stop. "Max, school's over. Not even your worst insults could ruin this for me. Now, if you saved them 'til the first day of school at the end of summer…"

"Shut up, Wilsans." Max said with a smirk. Eddie just shrugged and folded his arms across his chest.

"What is it this time? Wimp? Freak? Retard? Idiot? Come on, you'd better have something more original than those or I'm just going to leave right now."

Max's eyes flashed. "How about _mass of broken bone and flesh_!" He stepped forward threateningly and Eddie, looking at something behind Max, just smirked.

"Naw… still sounds boring. How about 'saved by the teacher who's standing right behind you'?" Max froze and looked over his shoulder, only to find Eddie's History teacher and uncle (on his mother's side), Charles Reister, known to his friends as Chuck.

"Problems, boys?" He said, while looking right at Eddie.

Eddie grinned. "Nope! Max here was just wishing me a good summer!" He turned back to Max. "Well, the same goes for you!" He slapped Max on the back as hard as he could and Max walked off grumbling.

"Smart move." Uncle Chuck said with a smirk. He checked his watch and sighed. "I can't believe they hold a teacher's conference right _after_ school lets out for the year… Oh well, I'd better not be _too_ late!" Eddie grinned and nodded. With a wave, Uncle Chuck walked off.

Smiling and shaking his head, Eddie walked up to his locker and reached inside, grabbing his books, and depositing them into the backpack that he also kept in his locker. He also grabbed everything else, just gym clothes and shoes, and stuffed them in it as well.

"Are you finally ready to go?" A feminine voice asked from behind him and Eddie involuntary stiffened and turned to face his best friend and secret love, Summer. "Are you all right?" She asked when he didn't answer after a few moments.

He shook his head and grinned. "Of course! Just was, um… looking at a cute chick that walked by!"

Summer looked around. "Um… we're the only ones in the hall."

With a grim feeling in his gut, Eddie saw that was true. Everyone else was already gone, eager to leave this personal hell known as high school. He scrambled for an answer. "Exactly! She's already left! And I think we should too! Come on!"

Summer raised an eyebrow, not totally buying his excuse and pitiful attempt to change the subject, but she then shrugged and started walking towards the exit, Eddie on her heels.

_THUD!_ Eddie's backpack made a satisfying crunch as it landed in the trashcan. "I can't believe you just threw away your backpack… _again_!" Summer said with a smirk.

Eddie grinned at her. "It's what I do every year! You know that! I get rid of my books—"

"And anything else in your bag." Summer added.

"And throwing away my backpack is a symbol of being _free_ from school! For a few months anyway!" Eddie finished with a grin.

"You waste a lot of money that way." Eddie simply shrugged at that and reached into his pocket, pulling out a few dollars.

"Come on, let's hit _Dogs 'n' Chili_ before the rush! I feel hungry for some _chili dogs_!" He said with a grin. Summer simply rolled her eyes and nodded, prompting him to head towards the restaurant. He did so and she followed.

_SHING!_ Eddie slid smoothly down a metal rail and landed easily on the concrete sidewalk. His _Soap_ brand name shoes were built for this very thing—grinding.

"Hey, you kid! Quit that!" Somebody walking a few meters ahead of Eddie yelled. The teen just ignored him though and grinned at Summer who was walking calmly down the steps. She just rolled her eyes and muttered something.

Just down the block was Eddie's favorite place to hang out. Dogs 'n' Chili was a small fast food joint that served all kinds of hot dogs and chilidogs, Eddie's favorite food.

The small yellow shack was a wondrous sight for Eddie who was exhausted from the five-mile walk to get there. He wasn't good with speed _or_ endurance. The brown dog holding up an overflowing chilidog painted on the building welcomed him as the duo walked into the air-conditioned restaurant.

"Ahh! It's my favorite customer!" The owner of the shack, Johnson Prower, said with a grin. He was a large man, in height and weight, with a balding head and a full black beard. He wore a greasy white t-shirt and worn blue jeans topped off with a plastic apron covered in all kinds of food.

"Hey, John! Ready for my order, 'cause I am _hungry_!" Eddie said before plopping down on the nearest table to the counter.

"Already ahead of you, Eddie! Five chilidogs with cheese and hot sauce plus one big sized soda to boot!"

"You got it, bubba!" Eddie said loudly, matching the larger man's booming voice.

Summer rolled her eyes at this. These two were so crazy at times. They would often show off their 'manliness' with belching contests (when there were no other customers, of course) and chilidog eating matches. Somehow Eddie always managed to keep up with the larger man fairly well too when it came to eating. Surprisingly for his small size, he could eat many chilidogs easily.

"And one chili cheese dog for the lovely lady?" Johnson said much calmer this time to Summer. She nodded with a smile but didn't say anything.

As the large man walked back into the kitchen, Eddie called out, "Hey, is Miles around?" Johnson merely replied by jerking his meaty thumb to the direction of the back room and with a grunt. Eddie smiled at Summer. "I'll be right back." With that he walked into the backroom.

There, hunched over a desk and tinkering on some contraption, was the twelve-year-old boy named Miles Prower. He had sandy blonde hair and a freckle covered face that was just beginning to show the signs of adolescence. Having just completed eleventh grade that very day, there was no doubt to anyone that he was a child prodigy. That label had also gotten him labeled as a geek at the high school and he was a target for bullies. Even more than Eddie was.

He turned around in his spinning chair to reveal that his eyes were covered up by huge safety glasses that looked like they were barely staying on. In front of him was a small misshapen mass of metal parts and screws. At a closer glance, you could see the definite beauty of the 'creature'.

"Eddie! Just in time! This here's my _RoboSpider_! I just finished it! Wanna see?" Miles said in his slightly squeaky voice.

Although in truth, Eddie held little desire to watch yet another one of Miles inventions, he grinned and nodded anyway. He knew that Miles was really good at this and he loved it when Eddie watched, so he didn't find any reason _not_ to other than the boredom.

So with a smile, Miles spun back around and pressed a small button on the side of the robot. A red light clicked on and with a whirr, it came to life! Eight small legs that were folded beneath the body unfolded slowly and the 'spider's' body rose slowly off the table to stand on them. It took one step forward and then another, until it was quickly scurrying across the desk.

"It's working! Yes!" Miles cried with a tinge of boyish joy in his voice.

"Uh, Miles?" Eddie said as he watched the robot.

"I can't believe this! Usually my inventions down work so well on the first run!"

"Miles?"

"Oh, man! This thing is so great! I could win the upcoming robotics contest with this!"

"_Miles_?"

"What?" Miles snapped, obviously frustrated that Eddie had ruined his moment of joy. Eddie simply pointed at the spider, which was walking quickly towards the edge of the table. "Hey!" He jumped up and tried to grab the robot before it tumbled over the edge, but he was just a split second too slow and the robot toppled over, crashing onto the hard floor below. Its pieces were crushed, broken, and scattered around the crash site and the once wonderful spider became what it truly looked like to Eddie at the beginning: a heap of metal and screws.

The young boy's joy soon turned to sadness as he observed the broken robot. "Aww…" He said solemnly.

Eddie walked over to him and patted him roughly on the back. "S'ok, Miles! You can fix it! And this time you can make it so it won't walk off any tables too!"

Miles looked up at him; joy once again was etched on his face. "Yeah! And this time I can make it _huge_! As big as a house! I'll call it the _MegaRoboSpider_!"

Eddie just patted him on his back again. "Sure you will, Miles. If anyone can do it, _you_ can! Now come on and grab a bite to eat! Maybe you can convince your dad to give me my food for free again!" Miles grinned and walked out of the room and Eddie followed.

Not too far away, Doctor Julius Eggman was doing something very similar, only on a much bigger scale. With screwdriver in hand, he opened up the 'chest' of a large and dark green robot. The robot was humanoid in shape but its head was built almost like a disk, only fatter. It had a single spike on the top of its head.

He rubbed his gigantic orange mustache that extended far past his fat cheeks and adjusted his dark glasses as he looked closely at the robot. _SwatBot_ is what he called the model. It was the security of the huge complex that he lived on. With 'hands' that converted into high-powered laser guns and powerful sensors able to detect anything out of place within a 100-meter radius, it served as a much better security guard than any _human_ could.

With a yawn, he closed the chest compartment of the robot and flicked the switch on its neck to the _on_ position. Immediately, the SwatBot whirred to life and sat up on the steel table on which he lay. "_Unit Two-Nine-Six-Eight online._" It said in a mechanical voice.

Eggman looked at it with mild interest. "Go join the others." Without a reply, the SwatBot got off the table and marched with perfect precision out of the room, where it would continue its march to a large warehouse. There it would automatically shut down and wait until reactivated by remote.

Although it was the perfect security guard, Eggman had no plan to use it as so. He already had plenty of those. No, he was creating an _army_. An army that would help him achieve his sweet revenge on Mobius and one day the _world_!

Some would call him insane. Some would call him eccentric. Some would call him a mad scientist (which was probably as true as his name was Eggman). But there wasn't _one person_ in that world that would call him stupid. He was a genius with an IQ of 300. He was the leading scientist in the area of robotics and countless magazines dubbed him the "smartest man ever" which in his opinion, was completely true.

When he was just ten years old, he completed his first robot from scratch. When fifteen he had managed to gain a scholarship to the Mobius University of Robotics, the leading most fluent university in robotics! By then he had already completed high school. Three years before to be exact. From there, he worked day and night at the university to shoot to the top of his class, which he did with ease.

Then it all came crashing down around him. He was in his last year of college. After he finished this year, a huge robotics company would hire him where he would earn a seven-digit salary each year! But then he was _sued_. _Sued_ by a stupid twerp by the name of Mark Wilsans. The man claimed that one of Eggman's robots had shot at him. Now, whether this was actually true or not, Eggman did not totally know. Sure, one of his SwatBots had gotten out that day and it was fully armed with a laser, but…

Anyway, he had won the case and had lost nothing physical, but the damage had been done. The robotics company found out that he was creating robots as weapons and had immediately turned him down. Then the school threw him out as a 'threat to the students'. And then, last but not least, he was thrown in jail for a few years by the government for building war machines.

When Eggman got out, he was the hardened man he was now. He immediately got started on building more SwatBots and started selling them over the black market for huge sums. He was earning more money than he would have through the robotics company, but he was still extremely bitter towards them. So, he promised himself revenge. And he had now been working for years on creating an army of robots, getting ready for when he'd invade Mobius and then one day the Capital! He would either rule or decimate (he hadn't yet decided which he'd rather do) this country using the mindless, heartless drones. They felt no remorse and they felt no pain. They'd follow his orders one hundred percent even if it meant certain destruction. They were the perfect soldiers. Smart enough to be able to go against a human army and stupid enough to follow Eggman's orders without second thought.

And now, as he looked at his current number of SwatBots, he knew that the time for invasion had come!


	3. Anguish

**Chapter 2: Anguish**

Dr. Eggman, who lived on a gigantic complex on the outskirts of town, watched in glee as his troops formed into regiments of one thousand SwatBots each. They covered his entire complex. From his house to the very edge of his property, the regiments stood waiting for the signal. Other robots such as Hovercrafts—special flying robots that could transport people along with fight battles—flew overhead with blinding speed.

He looked down to a small device that he held in his hand. This device, this small _remote_, would initiate it all. With a press of a button, his conquest of Mobius and then eventually the _world_ would begin. That small remote held the power to destroy millions of lives. And fully knowing that, he squeezed the remote tightly, pressing the button.

Immediately, the sound of one loud _THUD_ was heard as the SwatBots took their first steps, completely in unison. The Hovercrafts' engines screamed as they shot forward with another burst of speed towards the distant city of Mobius.

The Hovercraft would be the first to reach the town. They would unload their payloads of missiles, decimating most of the town during the first run. Then they would double back and fly through the town, seeking and destroying anybody who they found wandering the streets or trying to run.

Then the SwatBots would reach the town. When they got through with it, there would not be a building left standing and few people alive. The few that _were_ alive would be brought to Eggman for experimentation with a new machine he was working on.

And now through binoculars, Dr. Eggman watched with mounted delight as he watched the first Hovercraft reach the city and its missile fall from its belly and stream towards the capital building…

The floor of Dogs 'n' Chili shook violently and Johnson cursed quietly as some pots that hung in his kitchen fell and clattered loudly against the cold floor. "What is that? An earthquake?" He demanded of no one.

Eddie however who was still out in the front answered. "N-no…" His voice was shaky. _Too_ shaky. It was as if he saw something that terrified him. Johnson looked out at them and gasped from what he saw outside the two large windows that adorned the front of his restaurant. He could easily see the wreckage of a large apartment building. Fires raged all around it and the ten-story building was now a large pile of rubble.

The buildings around the destroyed one were also hit with flying rubble and such. It was by pure luck that the leftovers didn't hit Dogs 'n' Chili. Johnson wasn't willing to risk another explosion.

"Everybody _out_! _NOW!_" He bellowed hoarsely running out of the kitchen and even overthrowing some of the tables of customers to show his seriousness.

"Dad? What's going on?" Miles asked fearfully as his eyes never left the wreckage.

"I don't know!" He ran to Miles and pulled him to eye level. "Whatever it is, son, I'm going to try to help."

"But it could be—"

"Dangerous. I know. But I have to do this! I want you to go with Eddie and—"

"But I don't want to leave you!" Miles finished, tears streaming down his face. Johnson simply looked up at Eddie. With a nod, Eddie grabbed Miles and started pulling him towards the exit of the restaurant. "No! Dad!"

"I'll meet up with you later, Miles!" Johnson yelled before running into the back and getting some wet towels to put over his mouth to protect him from the deadly fumes of the fire that raged in the wreckage of the other building.

After wrapping the towel around his mouth and nose, he ran out of the restaurant and towards the rubble.

"Come on!" Eddie yelled at Summer, who had frozen at the sight of the building.

For the first time after seeing it, she spoke. "I saw it, Eddie… It was no accident… It was a… missile. We're under attack!" Not bothering to let it all register in his mind yet, Eddie just grabbed her sleeve and roughly pulled both Miles and Summer out of the restaurant.

When outside, the trio were able to let the full horror of what was happening hit them. All around, blue egg-like fighter ships flew around, missiles and lasers blasting out from them and tearing up pavement and buildings with ease.

_TSEEEW!_ A gigantic laser bolt slammed into the tarmac in front of them, causing dirt and tar to fly up. The three slammed to the ground on instinct and the rubble rained upon their backs. Thankfully, none of the large pieces managed to hit them.

"Come on!" Eddie said scrambling to his feet after he decided it was momentarily safe. He quickly helped Miles and Summer up. Miles had given up struggling by now, but he'd every once in awhile look back towards the destroyed building just across the street. He had seen his father go in a few minutes before but he hadn't seen any evidence of him besides that.

Suddenly another missile screamed from overhead and slammed into another building, behind the previously destroyed one. It hit the base of the building, taking out the foundation and bottom half of the building. Slowly the building tottered and Miles' eyes widened to the point where they couldn't go any further.

"No…" He mouthed as he watched the building lean further and further. It's creaking seemed to silence all other sounds. Eddie's urgent voice no longer registered in Miles' mind. The screaming Hovercrafts disappeared. Time itself seemed to slow as Miles took an involuntary step towards the crumbling building, as if he could hold it up with his own hands. He felt Eddie's arms jerk him back, but other than that he didn't even know anything else than the building. Then as another missile tore up the street in front of him, time came hurtling back at full speed and he watched in absolute terror as the building crashed down on the rubble of the first building. And then there was a huge explosion from within one of the destroyed buildings, causing a huge searing white ball of fire to erupt upward into sky full of robotic fighters.

Miles knew there was no way anybody could live through that blast. He knew that anybody left inside was now either a pile of ash or close enough. He also knew his dad probably died painlessly…

Died. Died. Died… His father had died. Miles' body shook in terror and fury. "_NO!_" He cried as he ripped free of Eddie's arms and tore across the street. His body was racked in sobs as he ran and one particular one caused him to fall head over heels and roll to a stop at the sidewalk on the other side of the empty street.

"Miles!" Eddie cried from behind him, but his voice didn't register in the preteen's mind. All he could think about is how his dad had to be trapped under that rubble and needed help! But he also knew that his father, the same father who had stuck by him even when his mother had picked up and left years before, was gone.

"Miles, come back!" It was Summer's voice this time, but she was partly drowned out as another ship flew overhead. Another building down the road exploded with bright fury because of it. The boy didn't even notice.

"_DAAAAAAAD!_" He screamed as he scrambled to his feet and ran the final stretch to the building. He began clawing at the rubble, trying to dislodge it. He only ended up ripping up the skin of his palms. Marks of blood were left on the charred metal, concrete, and brick. "Hold on, dad!"

Arms wrapped around his waste and jerked him back with such force that he was nearly given a case of whiplash. "_DAD!_"

"Miles, shut up! We have to go!" Eddie yelled at him roughly before trying to jerk him back another few steps. Miles simply replied by kicking up in the air. Trying desperately to escape Eddie's grasp.

He was spun around roughly and found himself looking into Eddie's brown eyes. "Miles!" He said sternly. "We have to _go_! It's too dangerous here!"

"But my dad…"

"Your dad is _gone_! You know that, Miles! Nobody could live through that blast! Now it's time to _leave_!" Eddie was sorry to have to use such harsh words to him, but he knew he had to try something. Miles was a smart kid, smarter than even Eddie; he just needed that brain jumpstarted.

Miles struggled for a few more seconds before his eyes locked on Eddie's once more and it finally hit him in full fury that he was now… an orphan.

With a loud sob, he wrapped his arms around Eddie and moaned into his shoulder. Not wasting anytime, Eddie lifted him (and not very easily either) off the ground and ran back to where Summer waited.

"Listen, Miles. I need you to run with us. I can't carry you for long. Can you do it?" Eddie asked when he reached her. The twelve-year-old boy nodded slowly and Eddie let him down.

He looked down both sides of the street and decided to go the direction where there was the most destruction, hoping that there would be less danger going in the part that had already been decimated than going the direction of the untouched part. After all, fire doesn't burn things already burnt. It goes for the fresh wood.

And together, the three ran down that street, each totally exhausted and running completely on adrenaline…

Heavy footfalls and the clanking of metal parts hitting each other was what caused Eddie to throw his arm out to stop the party of three. He looked around the corner of the alley they were in and then suddenly drew back in fear. Right around the corner was a large, green and humanoid robot.

He motioned for silence at the two and pressed himself as close as possible to the wall, hoping that the robot would just walk by. He wasn't counting on it having powerful sensory equipment built in.

As it walked past the alley, it suddenly stopped and turned, training its laser gun _right on Eddie_. "Halt." It said in a monotonous voice. "Under the authority of Dr. Eggman, you are under arrest."

Eddie's blood froze. _Eggman?_ He wondered inwardly. _The very same Eggman my dad sued…?_ He mentally cursed at that. It was probably bad news.

He quickly looked around for something to defend himself with and his eyes fell on a crowbar sitting on the ground. _For once, I have reason to _thank_ the high crime rate of this city_. He thought with a smirk.

He looked at the robot and frowned. "What? No reading of rights?" The robot just stared at him. Eddie realized that it must not have understood humor at all. "Hey! Look! Behind you, it's a huge… huge… tank!" The robot immediately swiveled around and trained its gun on where the _tank_ should have been. Quickly, Eddie grabbed the crowbar and swung it as hard as possible into the robot's head…

It didn't even put a dent in it. Hardly a scratch. But regardless of that, the robot spun around again and trained it weapon on Eddie again. "By the laws of Dr. Eggman, Unit Five-Seven-One is allowed to execute any and all threats without permission. You have now been seen as a threat. I will now execute you. Please do not be uncooperative."

Eddie heard the whine of the laser as it powered up and regardless of that, the robot's next words nearly caused him to burst out laughing: "Have a nice day."

_Maybe they _do_ have a sense of humor after all!_ Deciding to put off pondering about it, he quickly jammed the crowbar into an open piece of the robots metal covering, severing some wires in it.

The robot didn't slow. It simply stared at Eddie with its red lights for eyes and pulled the trigger on its laser gun… immediately, the gun, along with the entire robot, exploded in a brilliant flash that send Eddie, along with his posse, to the floor.

Summer yelped loudly and held her wrist. Already it was beginning to swell. "I think it's broken!" She cried as he rocked back and forth because of the pain. Miles simply stared forward, the look of absolute _numbness_ never leaving his face. And Eddie was half blind because of the blast. They weren't in shape to make a grand escape from the city.

But the sounds of _war_ gave them the strength to rise again. Eddie quickly tore off a piece of his shirt and using the crowbar from before (it had flown free from the blast and ended up a few feet away from him), he created a pitiful looking tourniquet for Summer. He also tore off another strip of his shirt and stuck it in her mouth to keep her from making a lot of noise from the pain.

Blinking his eyes a few more times to try to clear the colorful spots in his vision that hindered his sight, Eddie looked at the two and with a solemn nod, he continued down the road.

Summer simply watched him for a few moments and then looked down at her bandaged arm. "Who would have thought he'd make such a great leader…?" She said aloud. Miles, who stood beside her didn't answer, but instead walked after Eddie. Deciding not to risk falling behind, she tore off after the two, fighting the tears in her eyes that originated from her broken wrist.

"Summer, do you remember our little fort in the forest? You know, the one near the stream?" Eddie asked while the three ran through the back alleyways and through destroyed remains of many homes.

"Um… I think so. The one where we'd play house and—"

"You two played house?" Mile interjected. He laughed harshly, a sweet sound even if it was condescending. He hadn't been able to even smile since his father's death.

"I was six!" Eddie added with a groan and then he looked back at Summer. "Yes, that's the one." and he looked at her in confusion.

"No, I don't remember at all." Summer finished with hiding a smile. Eddie's face fell slightly and he gave her a look of confusion. She laughed, another beautiful sound… at least, it was to Eddie. "I know what you're talking about."

Another laser bolt originating from the flying ships caused a large minivan, full of members of a fleeing family, to explode with a loud _BOOM!_ It was enough to shatter the slightest bit of humor in the group.

"What's going to happen to us…?" Miles asked softly, earning a stare from the other two. "I mean… we're under attack. By robots, none the less! How can we make it through this?"

"Miles, don't talk like that!" Summer said sternly all the while feeling the same thing. Eddie tried to reply but he found his throat dry and his eyes brimming with tears. He choked slightly but he steeled himself. He was the strong one here. He _had_ to be.

"You'll never get away with all of this, Eggman!" Mark Wilsans yelled at the larger man. He was held back by two SwatBots, but that didn't prevent him from struggling.

Dr. Eggman simply chuckled. "Look around you. See your pitiful city. It's in ruins. The attack hasn't even been going on for a half hour! I won't get away from it? You pitiful undeveloped moron, I already _have_ gotten away with it. One day soon I shall be crowned _Emperor_ Eggman of the _world_!" He laughed manically and then grew serious again. "But poor, poor Mark… you won't be around to see it."

Mark's face paled visibly as Eggman brought a gun up to his face. "And neither will your wife!" On cue, two more SwatBots entered the room roughly dragging an unconscious brunette woman.

"No! Leave her out of this, Eggman!"

"That's _emperor_."

"Leave her _out_! I'm the one you want! Kill me, but leave her alone!" Mark finished with a pleading look on his face.

Eggman merely laughed and then trained his gun on the woman. "_NO!_" Mark cried desperately. Eggman simply looked at him with a look of pure hatred and then pulled the trigger, sending a laser bolt straight into her chest, leaving a smoldering hole in Mark's beloved wife.

Mark fell silent, his face pale as the moon. Suddenly with a cry of anguish, he tried to jump at Eggman, but the SwatBots held him firm. "You'll pay for this, Eggman!" He snarled while struggling again the robots.

"No. I don't think I will." And with that, Eggman laughed and leveled the gun on Mark's forehead. With a smirk, he pulled the trigger.

Satisfied as he watched Mark's body slump, he looked at the robots. "Clean up this mess and throw these two into the trash disintegrator!"

"There's the tree line! We're almost there!" Eddie cried as they exited the city. They were now running upon a crumbled highway, burning cars and corpses all around. The destruction was endless.

They kept running, and ended up running up onto a bridge that led over a deep and powerful river below. Eddie grinned as they ran and the distraction of the closing forest nearly cost him his life.

"Eddie!" Summer's voice suddenly cut through his thoughts and he stopped immediately. Directly in front of him was a gap, at least eight feet across, in the bridge. Below the river raged, carrying with it any unfortunate soul that had ventured too far on the bridge.

He turned around to face the others and smiled sheepishly. "Uh… thanks." He looked back at the bridge and sighed heavily. "We'll have to find a way across the river. We can't jump. We'll never make it."

Solemnly, the trio started walking back down the bridge and along the side of the river, looking for something to get them across.

There was a slight rumble underfoot, but they didn't pay it any attention. It was probably just a tremor from another missile. But when the dirt beneath them began to shift and cave in, they realized that the ground was opening up!

"Whoa!" Jump, guys!" Eddie yelled, but it was too late. A large hole opened up in the dirt, swallowing all three of them…


	4. The Rings

**Chapter 3: The Rings**

The cavern was dark and musty. This was the first thing Summer noticed when she awoke. The second was that Miles was lying right on top of her, unconscious.

She gently rolled him off and stood up. She could hardly see two feet in front of her face, a strange occurrence because of the fact that they had fallen through a hole! But when she looked up, she found that she couldn't see any evidence of the said hole…

Her eyes widened. "_What?!_" She screamed before running to the wall and trying to climb. She had always been claustrophobic and it wasn't easy being in an enclosed cavern in which there was no exit.

A groan was emitted behind her and she gasped sharply spinning around and peering through the darkness. "Hey… what happened?" She visibly relaxed. It was just the voice of Eddie.

"We're… we're…" She started shakily.

"Summer? What's wrong?" His form came into view and seeing him gave her some minor comfort, but she was still jumpy.

"Look up, Eddie! The hole's collapsed or something! We're trapped!" Eddie fell silent, knowing full well of Summer's terror of enclosed spaces.

"Listen, we'll get out of here. I'm sure there's another opening or something. We just have to fi—"

"Well then, let's hurry and find it!" She said, interrupting him. Another groan caused her to jump, but she realized it was just Miles waking up.

"What happened…?" He asked and then Eddie proceeded to explain their situation. "So… we're trapped?" The young boy asked, surprisingly calm.

"No… we just can't find the exit at the moment. We'll be fine though." Eddie replied. By this time, Summer was on the edge of hysterics and she was breathing quickly and sharply.

"Summer, calm down. We probably have limited oxygen in here and—" Eddie regretted the words the second they came out of his mouth.

"_Limited oxygen_?" Summer nearly screamed. With a moan, she said, "We're going to die here, aren't we?"

Eddie grabbed her shoulders and shook her slightly. "We'll be _fine_! Now just calm down! We are _not_ going to die." He hissed with authority. She sniffled a tad, and brushed away tears that were threatening to pour down her face.

"I… I'm sorry…" She said, sounding ashamed. "It's just this whole day… it's been so…" She trailed off when she saw something behind Eddie. "Hey, what's that?"

Eddie looked over his shoulder and let go of her arms. He walked towards whatever it was that they saw and stopped in front of it. "It's some kind of… pedestal. And look! There are others!" Sure enough, quite a few others accompanied the pedestal. There were seven in all. And there was a black box on each. Four of the boxes were open, the other three shut.

"What's this?" Eddie looked closely at the box in front of him and his eyes widened. "Would you look at this? It's a ring!" He pulled out a small golden ring. It had a glittering blue emerald set into the gold.

He held it up to his eye. "Wow… It's hard to tell in this light, but I bet'cha this thing's worth a fortune!" He slipped it on his finger and was amazed at the fact that it fit perfectly. A cold shiver ran down his spine, but he hardly noticed it. "Not too snug, not too loose… it's made for me!" He turned and winked at Summer, but in the light, she couldn't see.

"Eddie, we have to find a way out of here! Why are you wasting time thinking about some cheap ring that probably was buried here as a joke?!" She demanded angrily.

But he ignored her. Instead, he walked over to the next pedestal and pulled out another ring, this one silver with a yellow emerald set into it. "Hey, Summer. This one looks like your size!"

"_Eddie!_ We have to find a way out of here!"

Eddie looked at her. "Calm down. We'll find a way. Now come over here and check this out!"

With a nervous groan, she walked over to him and peered at the ring. Immediately her interest was peaked. "Wow…" The yellow stone seemed to glow as she looked at it and on instinct she snatched it from Eddie's hand. Slipping it on, she felt a shiver run down her spine, but, as with Eddie, she ignored it. "It fits… perfectly."

"Ditto." Miles' voice caused the two to look over to where he stood, which was in front of the third pedestal. He now adorned another golden ring with an orange stone in it.

"So, what do you guys think? Do they look cheap?" Eddie asked, his eyes focusing on Summer. She looked away angrily.

"I think they're great!" Miles piped up while grinning. His eyes focused on the fourth and last of the opened boxes. Inching closer to it, he peered in and pouted slightly. "Empty."

Eddie _hmm'ed_ and walked over to him. "Yep. Empty. Strange… and look! The box is bigger than the others!" He looked at the others and noted the size differences. There was one smaller box and two larger ones.

He walked over to the first large one and tried to open it, only to find it sealed shut. Now, trying to lift the box, he found that it stuck firmly to the pedestal. "What the…?" He walked to the small box and found the same results. The last large one yielded the same. "Weird…"

But before he could think about it any longer, there was a slight rumbling as part of the roof of the cavern collapsed… right above Summer! "Watch out!" Quickly he ran and slammed into her, causing them both to fly out of the way of the falling rocks. If he weren't so stressed out about the fact that the love of his life had nearly been crushed underneath the weight of the roof, he would have noticed how quickly he had reacted and how fast he had run.

He found himself on top of Summer, looking straight into her green eyes. And he just stayed like that, just staring, unable able to take his eyes away. Staring… Staring… "Uh… Eddie?" And then the stare was ended and he quickly rolled off her, trying to conceal his blush.

She was about to thank him but then she saw the wide shaft of light that hit the ground and the dark humanoid shadow that covered part of it. With a gasp, she looked up to see the silhouette of a man. He looked quite short and he had what looked like dreadlocks. But before she could make out any of his other features, he was gone. As if he was never there. "Who was that…?" She whispered to herself.

"Summer? Are you okay?" Eddie asked, looking at her with a look of worry and confusion. She smiled at him and nodded. "Good! Now, let's get out of here!" He immediately began trying to climb a section of the dirt and rock wall that looked easy to climb. When he reached the top, he looked back down to see both Miles and Summer following.

His eyes focused on the pedestals below and he remembered the ring on his finger. "Oh!" He began to pull the ring off but then he stopped himself. With a glance around, he realized that nobody would miss the rings. They had other worries. With a small smile, he dropped the hand that was going to pull the ring off to his side.

And after the other two had reached the top, the trio began their trek to find another way across the bridge…

None of them noticed the person who watched from the shadows of a formation of rocks. None of them noticed Knuckles the Echidna walk out from behind the shadows and get to work on covering up the hole he had previously created to help them out…

_TSEEW!_ A laser bolt slammed into the dirt, causing a spray of sand and rock to hit the party of three in the faces. Directly in front of them was a group of robots, all having guns trained on them.

"_Other way!_" Eddie cried before turning swiftly and running back in the direction they had come. His comrades followed. _TSEEW!_ Another laser crashed into a rock formation, causing it to break apart, sending rocks the sizes of pebbles to the sizes of a human head flying everywhere. But by then, the trio had already passed the rocks.

Summer and Eddie ran quickly and easily began to outrun the robots, but Miles, who had even shorter legs and was already exhausted, was beginning to lag behind. With fear, he realized that if he didn't do something soon, they would run so far ahead that they wouldn't be able to help him if he got in a jam!

"Wait up, guys!" He cried desperately. The two in front of him stopped and looked back. Both of their eyes widened at the same time and suddenly Eddie ran back and grabbed Miles roughly and began pulling him along. A laser bolt slammed into the ground right where he had just stood.

They were nearing the bridge now. Planning on running past it, the trio didn't even slow. But then they saw the regiment of robots on the other side. "No!" Eddie cried and then he turned left only to see some Hovercrafts screaming in their direction. And just like that, they were trapped—a broken bridge behind, and robots on all other sides.

"What do we do, Eddie?" Summer asked as the robots closed in.

Eddie bit his lip and tried to think of a plan, but his mind came up blank. But when a laser bolt shot right in front of his face, close enough for Eddie to feel the heat radiating from it, he threw away any plan to _make_ a plan and grabbed both Summer and Miles and ran for the bridge.

"What are you doing?!" Summer hissed as they ran. Eddie didn't even answer, but he just picked up speed, now only holding onto Miles' arm. Then with a sudden motion, Eddie swung Miles up ending up holding him cradle-style. Miles cried out in surprise and wrapped his arms around Eddie as he saw the gap closing in on them. The hovercrafts were closer than ever as well. Summer realized Eddie's 'plan' and she nearly stumbled. "Are you crazy?!"

"Just jump!" Eddie said before adding on another burst of speed, making his legs a blur of movement. Subconsciously, Summer noticed that Eddie had _never_ ran this fast before, but then she noted that she was keeping up.

And then the gap was upon them. Eight feet across, they couldn't hope to make it, but regardless of that they jumped… and sailed through the air. Eddie was the first to jump and he was the first to land on the other side. He stopped to make sure Summer got across.

And get across she did. She cleared the gap with ease and ended up landing softly almost five feet ahead of Eddie. From Eddie's standpoint, it looked like she had _flown_ across the gap.

"How did you…?" Eddie started but she he stopped when laser peppered the bridge. Deciding to ask her about it later, he set Miles down, grabbing onto his hand again, and then began running. Summer followed closely behind.

Behind them, the Hovercrafts screamed on, but the robots were stuck at the gap. One or two had tried to jump across, but they fell quickly to the river below. The rest of them seemed to have a bit more intelligence because they simply stopped there are started blasting off pot shots at the three.

Faster and faster they ran towards the tree line. The Hovercrafts seemed to slow from their screaming pace to a slow walk while the three sped ahead at neck breaking speed. In reality, the three had just left them behind.

"Let's stop here." Eddie said as they came upon a clearing nearly a mile into the forest.

"How far have we been running?" Summer asked as she looked around for any hidden enemies. With a shrug, Eddie sat heavily on a nearby log and motioned for Miles to sit next to him.

"It feels like miles…" Miles said softly before taking off his shoes and rubbing his feet.

"Whew! Boy, you'd better put those back on!" Eddie said waving his hand in front of his face, all the while grinning like an idiot. Miles glared at him while Summer simply rolled her eyes.

"Think they'll find us?" Summer asked while she still stood, looking around. Just then a Hovercraft screamed overhead, causing them all to take cover in whatever they could find. It soon disappeared though.

"No… If we're careful, we'll be safe here…"

"But we can't stay here forever!"

"I know. That's why tomorrow we're going to explore this forest some more and see if we can find a way out of it and into the next town!" Eddie finished with a tone of voice that obviously said that there would be no arguing.

"Eddie…" Miles said softly, causing the other two to look at him. "I don't want to let that man get away with this." Miles finished almost _coldly_.

"Miles, I know that it—" Summer started, but Eddie cut her off.

"He'll pay somehow, Miles. I'll make sure of it." He said with an equally cold voice, causing Summer's head to snap in his direction.

"What are you talking about?" She questioned. Eddie stood up and began walking around some.

"I don't know yet… I'll come up with some kind of plan though."

"You can't possibly think that we can take on that guy's entire army… do you?" Eddie ignored her but kept pacing. "Eddie? Answer me."

Suddenly his head shot up, a look of excitement etched on his face. "Miles! _You're_ our key here! Could you, if you had the materials, make us weapons of some sort? Maybe even robots to fight his?"

Miles paled. "I… I don't know if I can… I mean—"

"_No, he will not_!" Their female companion snapped while stepping towards Eddie. She was within a foot of him when she stopped.

"Summer, what are you—" Eddie started, but he was cut off by a low whisper from her.

"You are _not_ asking him to create… create… _killing machines_, Eddie! You are _not_ going to put that kind of thing on his shoulders! He's just a kid! And you aren't going to risk _all_ of our lives either!"

Eddie bit his lip. "I was just running through some ideas."

"Well _don't_! The last thing we need is you or Miles going on a revenge quest and getting yourself killed by that freak!"

Eddie smiled. "Wow, you're _worried_ about me! I'm touched!" Summer groaned loudly and, throwing her hands up in the air, stomped back to the log. On the way there, she hit her broken wrist on a tree branch that was jutting out and with a cry held it tightly against her stomach.

Running to her quickly, Eddie knelt down in front of her. "Let me see it."

"I-it's fine…" She said through clenched teeth, trying to keep the tears that threatened to pour from doing just that.

"Now!" Eddie yelled suddenly leaving no room for discussion. Slightly angry, she let him take her wrist into his hands and examine it. "We need to get a doctor to look at this soon… It does _not_ look good. Look." He pointed at a section of skin visible through the splint he had made. "I think that's where it's broken. I think… I think that lump is the bone."

Summer resisted the urge to throw up and just barely stopped herself. "Don't even remind me." She said when she felt she could trust her voice.

"Tomorrow. We have to move out tomorrow. We _have_ to get this looked at." He said softly. Summer nodded in agreement and continued on to the log where she sat down.

It wasn't long until Miles fell asleep. In fact, he fell asleep leaning against Summer. But she didn't mind it. He'd been through a lot that day and she wasn't about to feel sorry for herself because of him.

Eddie watched them with amusement. "I think he likes you." He said with a grin. Summer shot him a warning glance and he decided not to tease her. "Anyway, I think I'm going to find some water or something. I'm thirsty."

"What about the rest of us?" Summer asked in bewilderment.

"I'll take you to it after I find it! I'd bring some back with me, but…" She cut him off with a wave.

"Fine, just when you come back, remember _where_ the water is!" Eddie nodded once and walked off into the forest. "I sure hope he doesn't get lost or something…" Summer said softly to herself as his figure disappeared…

"I sure hope I don't get lost…" Eddie said to no one as he walked. Picking up a rock, he began putting various marks on trees every few steps so that he could find his way back.

It wasn't long until he realized that the trees and grasses around him were getting taller and taller, signifying that he was going even deeper into the forest. A bush near him shook slightly and before he could react, a rabbit bounded from it.

Normally, Eddie wouldn't have even noticed this, but the rabbit was _half Eddie's size_! He yelled in fear and started running, forgetting completely to mark the trees. He didn't stop until he heard what sounded like rushing water. Sure enough, as he continued on, slower this time, he found a small brook with clear water running through it.

Grinning, he started running to it, but ended up tripping over his pant legs. Growling, he looked down and gasped. His shirt that used to extend down to just below his waist now hung over his knees. It was much bigger than it had been ten minutes before. His pants had endured the same treatment, the legs now extending far past his feet.

"What's going on?" He cried helplessly as he realized why the trees and grasses had grown taller. He realized why the rabbit had been half his size. He realized that it wasn't those things that had grown taller, but it was _him_ that had shrunk!

Desperate for some answers, he ran to the brook, splashing water on his face, hopefully waking him up in the process. He had no luck in that, but he _did_ get a good look at himself.

In the reflection on the water's surface, he saw a blue _creature_ looking back up at him. Long and sharp spikes, or _quills_, stuck out from his back, forming the illusion of fewer but larger spikes. Where the quills weren't, there was blue _fur_.

His two small eyes had grown to at least five or six times their former size. The whites of his eyes seemed to extend so far that they nearly formed into _one_ eye with two pupils! His formerly brown eyes had turned a beautiful shade of green.

His mouth and nose had changed completely, forming into a more animal-like snout. One that would belong to a fox or something like that, only it didn't extend nearly as far. His nose was now a black oval-shaped ball at the end of his 'snout'.

Eddie Wilsans had changed into a creature that shouldn't exist. And when he saw this, he promptly fainted…


	5. Change Happens

Hey, all! Sorry for the long wait, I've been a bit lazy lately. Not to mention I was going through a _tiny_ writer's block! But that's over with now and I can write again!

Now to reply to me _one_ serious reviewer—Red Sonic: First of all, thanks a bunch for the good review! And secondly, I agree. Eggman is the _worst_ name for an enemy since King Koopa (at least they changed _that_!). The reason I included it in this fic? Well, Eggman, although pitifully fake sounding, sounds more real for a last name than Robotnik! However, the name 'Robotnik' will be coming into play soon enough! I can't stand Eggman for _too_ long!

**Chapter 4: Change Happens**

Summer sighed heavily and tapped her foot on the ground in a bored manner. Beside her Miles still rested, snoring softly. Her shoulder had long since become numb and it was starting to get on her nerves. As much as she sympathized with Miles, she was nearly ready to throw him off!

"Where is Eddie…?" She muttered to herself. "When he gets back, I'll kill him!" Sighing she looked up into the sky and resisted the urge to scream in frustration.

"What's going on…?" She whispered quietly to herself as that day's events began catching up to her. The day had started so perfectly—the last day of school. She was ready for a summer full of fun things! From sleeping in to possibly a camp later that summer, her summer was going to be long, lazy, and luxurious!

Then that attack came! It ruined everything! Her summer was destroyed! How could this happen? How could her summer be… "What am I talking about…?" She wondered, stopping her thoughts. "How could I be thinking about my summer when so many people are dead? When Miles is an orphan? When we _all_ might be orphans…?" She wiped away some tears that threatened to spill and gave a shaky sigh. It was too much… all too much. How many times had she nearly been killed that day? Once? Twice? A dozen times? Too many to count? She didn't even know anymore.

This time she didn't try to stop the deluge of tears from flowing. She let herself cry. "Crying always helps." Her mom always said. And maybe that statement was far from true, it _did_ make her feel a little better in this case. But the problem was that after she started, she couldn't stop.

Tears kept rolling down her cheeks and soon her chest heaved and her crying turning into sobbing. Her sniffles turned to wails. Maybe someone, a robot even, would hear, but she no longer cared. She was numb to everything but the pain inside.

"S-Summer?" She heard a voice whisper from beside her and she forced herself to quell the weeping for now. "Are you okay?"

She looked at Miles and sighed heavily. "No… no, I'm not, but…" She laughed harshly. "I'm so stupid…"

"No, you're not!"

"You just lost your dad and _I'm_ crying! I'm complaining when so many people have much more to complain about! I'm so—" Miles grabbed her shoulders and shook her violently. Summer winced because of her broken wrist.

"Stop it!" He yelled, fighting to keep his own tears from falling. "Just please… stop!" Summer stopped immediately, stunned at Miles' outburst.

"I'm sorry…" She said quietly when she felt she could trust her voice. Miles looked forward solemnly.

"Don't be… You have plenty of reason to complain!" He got up and started pacing. "I mean… we _all_ do! This isn't fair! This isn't supposed to happen!" It was him who started crying this time. His pace slowed until he was standing still with his hands at his sides and he face pointed to the ground.

Summer could see salty tears fall through the air and splatter on the dirt and grass below his feet, and she got up and hugged him tightly, being careful about her wrist, letting him cry into her shoulder. "Shh… It'll be all right. Everything will be all right."

Miles looked up at her wiping his tear-stained eyes. "Will it?" He asked in a voice that showed much doubt. Although she felt like she was lying in everyway and form, Summer nodded slowly. But the truth was she didn't have the slightest clue…

Eddie came to more than an hour later. Rubbing his head, he groaned loudly. "What a dream…" He waited for his vision to clear and when it did, his eyes widened. He was still in the middle of the forest. "Okay… so maybe our town really _was_ destroyed…"

He got up slowly and brushed himself off. Looking at his arms and legs, he was pleased to find that he was normal height and was _human_. "Now, that _must_ have been a dream! I must have hit a tree branch or something and knocked myself out…"

The sound of water behind him made him grin wildly and whip around to see the brook. Running to it, he cupped his hand and drew out some water. Slowly at first, but then by burying his face in his hands until the water was gone, he drank. And he kept drinking until his thirst was finally quenched.

"Now to make it back to camp and show this to Summer and Miles! Maybe move the camp closer to here!" He started walking through the forest, but soon found that none of the nearby trees had any kind of marks on them. He remembered running away from the rabbit and not marking any trees while doing so, but that was just a dream… right?

Yes, it had to have been. But if it was, how did he end up at the brook? Shaking his head, Eddie pushed those thoughts out of his mind. He had more serious things to worry about, like how he was lost in a forest that stretched on for miles and miles.

"Maybe if I follow the stream…" He wondered aloud while sitting down on a fallen tree. "But I would never get back to Summer that way…" He sighed heavily and buried his head in his hands. "What am I supposed to do…?"

As if an answer to his question, a loud shriek, one that Eddie recognized, echoed throughout the forest. His head shot up and he looked in the direction of the scream. "That's Summer!" And with a shot, he ran as fast as he could through the forest in the direction of her. In his distraction, he hardly even noticed the itching feeling as blue quills began, once again, growing out of his skin.

Tree... Tree... Shrub. Tree. Tree. Tree. Tree-tree-tree-tree-tree. Eddie noticed that everything was a blur soon enough. Trees flew by so fast that he couldn't even pick out individual ones. Yet regardless of that, he knew _exactly_ where he was going. When there was a tree coming up that was in his way, he moved with ease out of the way. He zigged and zagged with speed that shouldn't have been possible. But it felt natural. He felt at home with the high speeds. It felt like he had unlocked something vital to his existence. And that feeling alone was what kept him running, not even noticing that he had shrunk again and was the strange creature he had been in his 'dream'…

Summer finally stopped screaming and settled for stumbling back with her hand over her open mouth. She stared at the strange creature with orange fur and two fox-like tails. It stood up on two legs and stared at himself in what looked like fear and confusion.

"What's going on?!" The creature cried in a voice very familiar to Summer. He was still staring at his body in horror. He didn't know what had happened! One second he was hugging Summer and crying into her shoulder and the next he was itching all over! When he had finally looked at his arms, he found them covered in the same orange fur! And soon he had started shrinking! And he had tails! He had gained two tails!

"M-Miles…?" Summer asked tentatively, taking an experimental step forward. The creature looked at her.

"What's happening to me, Summer?!" Hearing his voice once more, Summer's eyes widened.

"Dear God! You _are_ Miles!" But before she could say anything, a blue blur of speed erupted from some shrubs at the end of the clearing and slammed straight into Miles.

"Stay away from her, you freak of nature!" The blur cried as he and Miles rolled across the ground. That voice Summer recognized. A voice that she had heard nearly every day for so long. But before she could reply, the blue creature let loose a string of curses, jumping back.

"I changed again!" He cried as he stared at his blue body.

"Eddie?!" Summer cried, causing him to look at her.

"Eddie?!" Miles repeated in confusion from his spot where Eddie had left him. Eddie looked at Miles in bewilderment.

"Miles…?" His eyes widened and he rushed, a blue blur once again, to his side, and helped him up. "Dude, I'm sorry! I had no idea!" Miles brushed himself off and smiled.

"It's no—" He stopped suddenly, staring straight at Summer. Eddie followed his gaze and cursed. And suddenly, Summer felt much more smaller than before. In a matter of seconds, she was about the same height as Eddie and Miles…

Clothes draped over her arms and legs. Shoes were loose and nearly slipping off.

"W-what's going on?!" She screamed as her knees buckled. Soon noticed that her shirt was a lot tighter than before, forcing her to struggle with breathing. Something from the back was pushing it tighter and tighter until there was a loud _RIP_ and from the shirt exploded sharp, yellow quills.

Her face elongated, just as Eddie's had, but her snout was a little different. While Eddie's was more rounded, Summer's was more edgy and her nose was a sharp cone instead of Eddie's oval-shaped nose. Strange, yellow dreadlocks made of quills hung down over her face, along with her normal auburn hair. Her eyes grew to an impossible size and yellow fur covered her entire body, unlike Eddie who had a patch of tan fur on her abdomen and chest. The transformation was completed when a tail, angled twice to make it almost look like a lightning bolt, shot out from, coincidentally, her tailbone.

She saw Eddie's mouth drop and Miles stumbled back some. And Summer did the thing any normal person would do in a situation like this—she screamed loudly and promptly fainted…

Eddie paced around the clearing, distraught about Summer. Meanwhile, Miles simply ignored him, admiring his twin tails.

"How could this happen…?" Eddie whispered while running his hand through his quills. "How could I turn into a hedgehog…?"

"How do you know you're a hedgehog?" Miles asked, looking away from his tails and up at him.

"I…" Eddie frowned. How _did_ he know…? "I don't know… I just _do_. Something inside of me just knows that's what I am…" Miles looked back to his tails and smirked.

"I'm a fox. Quite a strange fox though… Who ever heard of one with two tails?" Eddie simply shrugged and sat down heavily.

"This is all too crazy…"

"I dunno… I think it's kinda cool!" Miles said. "I mean… did you see the speed you were—" Summer groaned from near Eddie and immediately, the blue hedgehog was at her side.

She opened her eyes and the first thing she saw were Eddie's newly-turned green eyes. With a yelp, she scrambled back, eyes wide. "Get away from me, you… you… _freak_!"

Eddie winced visibly and moved towards her some, holding his hands out in a peaceful gesture. "Summer, it's me! It's Eddie!"

She replied with a stern, "You're not Eddie! You can't be Eddie!"

"Come on! Remember what happened? We all changed into these creatures! We—" He was cut off by a ear piercing scream emitted from Summer. She had apparently noticed her yellow features again.

"Shut up!" Eddie hissed. "Do you want Eggman's entire army coming this way?" Summer kept on screaming and with a sigh, Eddie jumped, wrestled her to the ground, and covered her mouth tightly.

"Now _listen_!" He said, his voice rising. "I know you're scared! So am I! But whatever happened has happened and we can't change it! And if you keep screaming, we'll all be _dead_ within an hour!"

Lightning flashed and thunder crashed, a sure sign of the upcoming storm.

Miles inched forward and stood beside Eddie, who was still clamping Summer's mouth shut. She was still screaming, but it was very muffled.

"Remember what happened, Summer? It's me, Miles! Remember how I changed? And then Eddie came rushing in and tackled me?" Summer stopped screaming and some recognition shown in her eyes as she began remembering.

"And then _you_ changed! Can you remember that?" Eddie asked, loosening his hand from her mouth, but not taking it away completely. Summer slowly nodded. "Will you scream if I take my hand away?" She shook her head vigorously and Eddie took his hand away and got off her.

Summer got up slowly and stared at Eddie with curious eyes. Her piercing gaze soon caused him to blush slightly and look away.

"What happened, Eddie? Why'd this happen?" She asked, fear in her voice.

Eddie forced his eyes to meet hers once more and replied with a shaky, "I don't know, Summer. I really don't know…" Their eyes stayed locked on each other's eyes for a few more seconds before a loud _THWACKING_ sound shifted their attention to Miles.

His two tails with spinning with amazing speed, creating two swirls of orange fur. They whirled side-by-side, spinning in a way that, although they'd enter each other's spin area, they would never hit each other.

"Wow!" Miles cried as the tails 'thwacked' faster and faster until it was more of a constant _buzz_.

"What in the…?" Eddie wondered aloud, but before he could say anymore, Miles suddenly began scooting back across the clearing, his tails propelling him along the dirt and grass.

"Whoa! Help, Eddie!" Miles cried as he began picking up speed and moved along the ground towards the oncoming tree line.

Immediately, Eddie shot to his feet and ran after Miles with a blistering pace. It seemed that there was no acceleration time for him. One moment, he stood still, and the next, he was speeding along at a far faster speed than humanly possible.

The teenager grabbed Miles' feet and held tight, but soon found his feet skidding along the ground as well. "Stop spinning your tails, Miles!" He cried as he tried to gain some traction.

"I don't know how yet! I'm new at this, you know!" Miles snapped back, a look of concentration on his face.

Summer watched with interest as these two struggled. Finally, Miles' tails stopped thwacking and Eddie flew backward, propelled by his own strength and momentum, falling on his butt.

Despite her situation, Summer burst out laughing, her quills shaking with every laugh. Her dreadlocks covered her eyes most of the time, but when they flew back at times, the other two could see that her eyes were clamped shut to prevent tears from flowing.

"Oh, _now_ she laughs…" Eddie said softly. He then chuckled slightly. "It _is_ kind of funny." His chuckles increased. "I mean, you were—" He was cut off by a laugh originating from his own mouth. "And then I—" He could no longer continue as spastic laughter erupted from his mouth and his quills mimicked Summer's. Miles started laughing soon after.

The nervous Sergeant of the United States Army walked down the halls of the fabled Pentagon nervously. He wasn't even supposed to _be_ in this section of the Pentagon! The mysterious G.U.N. portion of the Pentagon, a section in the Army corner, was a recent addition to the Pentagon. The way it had been built was side by side to the Army sector, on the inside, making the Army section just look thicker than the rest. In reality, it was an entire section that few outside the men and women posted in the Pentagon knew about. Fewer even were even aloud to walk through the constantly guarded doors.

G.U.N. was devoted strictly to top-secret robotics technology. From AI controlled F-16s, to huge robots, both AI controlled and manned, with amazing firepower, G.U.N. handled it. No other country had what the USA now had. Although true artificial intelligence had yet to be accomplished, they were getting pretty darn close! Already their machines could monitor and learn by examination, however there were many things they couldn't do. They couldn't guess, make predictions, or anything of the like. This meant G.U.N.'s hopes of soon having an entire army of intelligent AI controlled robots was far off. But who knew when some random scientist would discover real AI. It was only a matter of time and money now.

This would be Sergeant Carter's first time walking through, and he was just doing a messenger job. The original messenger wasn't able to show up because of some bug going around and his authorities picked him in the heat of the moment. Normally, he would have jumped at the chance, but he was delivering _terrible_ news. And since the old, surly Commanders of the joint forces were known to 'shoot the messenger', he was quite nervous.

And with every step down the unknown halls, his nervousness grew. Finally, he came to a room that had in bold lettering, "Brig. General Stryker" on it. He knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in!" A loud, but compassionate sounding voice said from behind the door. At once, Carter felt at ease. Nobody that _nice_ sounding would be like the cruel commanders that so many talked about. So, at once, he entered through the door and walked purposely up to Stryker, making sure to square his corners and to keep his eyes straight ahead (standard drill movements).

"Sir, Staff Sergeant Carter reporting as ordered, sir!" Stryker motioned for him to continue. "Sir, I have a message from General Roberts, sir." He said, using his diaphragm to make his voice sound stronger and deeper.

"What is it? And lay off the 'sir sandwiches', we do things a little more lax around here. One 'sir' is plenty."

At this point, Carter relaxed slightly, but tried not to make it visible. But his relaxation was short-lived; for he remembered the news he was to deliver. "Sir, earlier today satellite photos captured a very large movement—an army—moving across some fields in Indiana. Just recently we received notice that this army laid waste to a city by the name of Mobius."

General Stryker's mouth was agape slightly and his eyes wide. "How in the…?" He paused, contemplating something. "Why are you _here_, soldier? What's happened isn't good, but why are you telling _me_ this? Why not the Army or Air Force or even the _Marines_?" Quietly, Carter could hear General Stryker murmur, "God forbid."

He took a deep breath and continued. "Sir, our reconnaissance flybys confirm what our people monitoring the satellites suspected."

"And that would be…?"

"Robots, sir. The city was overtaken by robots."

And there you go folks! My next chapter probably will take a while to get posted. Anywhere from 2-3 weeks to a month. Sorry! But next Saturday, I'm heading out of town till the 31st of May. And it probably won't be until after that trip before I can even get _started_ on the next chapter!

In the meantime, go read my other stories on my other name! They're long enough to handle you for at least a few days!

--Ben


	6. Sonic Vs Robotnik

…I think I'm getting hungry for reviews… So, come on people! _Review_!

Anyway, that's not the reason it took so long for this chapter though. The reason is because I was out of town from May 23rd-June 1st! Visiting my old friends, worshipping God at my old church, going on trips to theme parks, and just having an all-around awesome time! But I'm back now, so the chapters on both of my stories will hopefully begin rolling out again!

So, that being said, have a good read! I don't own Sonic, by the way! Oh, before I forget. For some reason, my italics aren't working right at the moment, so I replaced them with underlines. So when you see something underlined, pretend it's in italics!

**Chapter 5: Sonic Vs. Robotnik**

"I don't know…" Summer said quietly in reply to Eddie's recent question. It was only minutes after the incident with Miles and the trio had all sat down for a meal of some sort. They were eating mushrooms they prayed weren't poisonous and were going to be leaving soon to find the brook that Eddie had found before.

"But _I_ know I'm a hedgehog and Miles knows that he's a fox! What's so different about you?" Eddie said, confusion etched on his face.

"How am I supposed to know?" Summer said scornfully. "It's not like I'm an expert."

"All right, all right. It doesn't really matter anyway. What's in a name?"

"This coming from the person who's _hated_ his name ever since the day he was born…" Summer said with a laugh.

"Shut up! Can't you see that I'm trying to…" He paused and frowned. "Okay, I guess I wasn't really trying to do anything, but—"

"I am amazed at how stupid you are." Summer gave him a half-grin to show that she was just kidding and then munched on her mushroom some more.

And then, suddenly, the mushroom was simply… gone. No, not _gone_. It had been taken. And when she saw Eddie in his blue glory, eating a mushroom that he had not had seconds ago, she realized that _he_ had taken it!

"_Eddie_! Give that mushroom back!" He smirked at her.

"It really sucks to know that I'm that fast, doesn't it? Fast enough to…" He popped the rest of the mushroom into his mouth and grinned. "Take something so easily."

Summer glowered at him and stood up, shaking her hand threateningly. "I'm warning you Edgar Wilsans! If you try something like that a—" She was cut off by Eddie's obnoxious laugh.

"You… you sounded like my…" His laughing slowed some. "Like my… mom…" His laughing stopped completely and his eyes got a dark look in them.

"I wonder if she's okay…" He said quietly, looking in the general direction of Mobius. "And Dad… Or even Uncle Chuck! What's happening to them?"

"We're both going through this, Eddie. I don't know about my parents either! But we can't lose hope… they could be alive and well!" Summer said, walking up to him and sitting next to him. She put an arm around his shoulder. It wasn't in any way a romantic gesture, but Eddie couldn't help but to enjoy having her so close. But even that couldn't help the utter soberness of the moment.

"I hope you're right, Sum..." He said, using an old nickname that he had given her a while back. Summer knew that he never used that unless he was in deep concentration about something.

"Eddie? What is it?" She asked.

He looked at her, slight excitement shining through his eyes—a direct contrast to the moment they had just shared. "Look at the rings, Summer. Notice how they're glowing blue and yellow?"

She looked down at her hand and noticed that her ring was glowing the color of her quills. Eddie's was doing the same.

"I think these are the things that caused us to change!" He said, his voice rising. And before Summer could reply, he slid the ring off his finger…

Second Lieutenant Jared Powers of the 1st Robotics Air-borne Squadron, or RABS for short, tried to quell his growing excitement. He was situated in the cockpit of the Wolf-model fighting robot.

The serial number for the machine was F-16x, and it was that for a good reason. Originally modeled off the Air Force's F-16, it was a flying jet of supreme power. When in its original form, it looked nearly identical to the F-16. Painted the deepest black, in the dark it was nearly invisible. Like the F-16, it only had one engine, but with advancements in technology, it did not run off of fuel. Instead, it was powered by a huge magnet, which in turn made the jet nearly silent as it cut through the air. Not to mention, it also raised the top speed of the jet considerably. The single fin for maneuvering was also still there, raising into the air much like the dorsal fin on a dolphin or a shark. However, it was now equipped with small but high-powered rifles situated on swiveling cannons, allowing them to shoot in nearly every direction. There was little other difference other than those except for the weapons. Besides the tail weapon, _all_ guns had been upgraded to laser rifles capable of laying waste to a city in record time. Also it was equipped with even faster, more powerful, and smaller missiles than the likes of any other jet.

It was truly a supreme creation… and that was only its first form. With a pull of a lever, it could show just what kind of raw _power_ G.U.N. had. All one had to do was pull that one lever above the pilot's head and everything move back until it hung out like a tail. And a tail is exactly was it was! A long, eight-foot long tail, complete with the swiveling cannons at the tip, curved upwards with the tip facing forward much like a scorpion's tail. The engine would move to the inside of the jet, towards the center. If needing an extra boost of speed, one could flip a switch and the engine would rise from the back of the jet, like a jet pack, ready to be used. The wings would move forward a few feet and fold into canine-like legs. The twin stabilizing fins at the back would also fold into the back legs. The body of the jet itself would change, leaving the streamlined shape of the F-16 behind and becoming wolf-like in its appearance. Many of the laser guns on the bottom of the ship would also rise to the 'back' of the machine. At this time, the flying jet would land on the ground and stand upon the four legs. The final major change was the cockpit and nose cone. The cone and cockpit would change into the muzzle and head of a wolf, even going as far as to give it a huge mouth that had razor sharp teeth and a powerful laser cannon at the back of it. After that, only a few minor changes—such as repositioning certain inside components in such a way they won't be damaged by the way the new ship maneuvered—remained.

The F-16x had been nicknamed the _Wolf_ for such a reason. On a whim, the supreme flying machine could become a super-tank unlike any other. On ground, without the aid of the magnetic engine, it could move at speeds over 300 miles per hour. With the engine, that speed was nearly tripled, pushing the top land speed past the speed of sound. Whether on land or air, it could outmaneuver, move faster, and overpower any other craft on the planet.

And the best part of it all? Lieutenant Powers was one of the few handful of men and women who had been given the chance to fly it.

And now it was time for her maiden voyage. Test runs were one thing, but it was finally time to test her in _real_ combat. Powers' unit was being called on to go to a city called Mobius to fight off a madman with a robot army. His unit would be the first unit to arrive, but other units of G.U.N. and possibly ones of other military branches would follow them. But Powers didn't think G.U.N. would need the help of any others. They were the best of the best—faster, more powerful, and smarter than any of the others.

An alarm signaled him and the other various jets around him, each a different version of the F-16x capable of changing into different 'animals', to power up.

After entering in his launch code and flicking certain switches in a memorized pattern, his magnetic engine hummed to life. The only sound was the initial hum as electricity powered the magnet, but then it was all but silent.

"All systems go." He said into his intercom. His comrades in battle repeated him after they did their own preflight testing.

"_Well, boys. Start up those engines and let's hit it!_" He heard his flight commander say.

Immediately, he saw a jet in front of all the others, this one was a tiger when it changed, suddenly shoot forward and down the runway. A few other jets followed and finally it was his turn. Raising the throttle to max, his aircraft began shaking as the magnet tried to propel him forward, but was hindered by the brakes. He let off the brakes and his own jet shot forward. He watched his land speed and once he reached a good speed, he pulled back on his control stick. His jet lifted off easily and he shot up into the sky and joined his unit.

_Nothing_. Eddie pulled the ring off, but _nothing _happened. "I thought for sure…" He whispered to himself.

"Well, it took a long time for us to change before, and—"

"And maybe it needs to take some time to change back!" Eddie cried, cutting Summer off.,

Summer shushed him, "Miles is sleeping!" Sure enough, Miles was curled up in a ball near the far end of the clearing. He was using one of his twin tails as a pillow and the other was being used to cover his eyes from the setting sun above.

Eddie watched him closely and found himself becoming more and more protective of the boy every second. He was always like an older brother to Miles, but more so now than ever.

"What are you thinking about?"

Eddie looked at Summer. "I…" He hesitated, a little embarrassed to tell her his deepest thoughts at the moment. But a look from her prompted him to continue. "I was just thinking… Miles has no one else now. He's all alone…"

"He has us."

"Exactly. And I plan on keeping it that way." Summer frowned and looked at him in puzzlement. "He's an orphan, so I'm adopting him into my family. My parents are his parents. My cousins are his cousins. _I_ am his brother."

Summer stared at him for a few minutes with an expression that could be nothing but awe. "Eddie, that's really…" Se paused to search for the word. "_Sweet_ of you! I can tell you that he'll love that."

Eddie could feel himself blush, but thankfully his blue quills and fur covered it up. "I, uh… thanks, I guess…" And then suddenly, as if out of his greatest dreams, Summer leaned forward and put a light kiss on his cheek.

He doubted that even his blue fur could hide his blush this time. His expression was one of pure disbelief and Summer's matched his own.

"I—I'm sorry! I don't know what just came over me! Watching too many romance movies… Spur of the moment… It's all catching up to me, and hindering my judgment, I suppose." She stuttered, creating an excuse of why she had just done that.

And before Eddie could reply, before he could say how much he _didn't_ mind, she got up quickly and lay down next to Miles, using her arm as a pillow, leaving Eddie to his thoughts.

_Oh man… I've been waiting for that for so long… Well, I've been waiting for a chance for a _**real**_ kiss, but that's close enough! But is that it? Does it mean anything more than what she said?_ Eddie wondered to himself while staring at Summer's resting form.

_How could I be so stupid to do that?! Now he's going to think that I like him and things are going to be really uncomfortable between us! And I _**don't**_ like him either! Never have! …Except for that one time two years ago, but that was a long time ago! No feelings _now_! Right?_ Summer thought to herself while her eyes were squinted shut.

"This morning I could have been sure of that…" She whispered, the sound hardly ever reaching her own ears. "But after today, after seeing Eddie in… action and after hearing him say that…" She stopped and shook her head slightly. "Now's not the time to start thinking about that." After that last thought, she let her exhaustion hit her in full force and, in a matter of minutes, she was dead asleep.

Eddie watched her with interest until he was finally sure that she had fallen asleep. He then switched his gaze to the blue ring that was still in his hand. "I guess I'll try out that theory later…" And with that, he slipped the ring onto his finger again and smiled as it glowed bright blue again.

He looked to the sky and noticed with satisfaction that it was nearly nightfall.

"Time to go." He got to his feet and stretched. "Wish there was someway to tell them that I'm all right… if they wake up, that is. But I can't, so I'll just have to hope I'm back before then." He gave Summer and Miles one last glance and then walked out of the clearing.

Mobius was a wreck. Only a few buildings near the center of the former city still stood. The bridge from earlier had collapsed completely, leaving a twenty foot gap. But that was okay; Eddie would just find another route.

"Let's see just how fast I can go…" He took a deep breath and took off at a slow pace. But with every step he took, he sped up slightly. Faster, faster, and faster. Wind whipped past his face roughly, causing him to squint his eyes. But even as he became nothing more than a blue blur moving parallel to the river there was still no stop to his speed.

And then suddenly… he stopped. "There!" Quickly he ran over to the river and smiled at the large tree that had toppled over and was now serving as a perfect bridge that extended across the gap.

"Wonder how far I can jump…?" He judged the tree, checking how wide it was and smiled again. "Here goes…" After back up about thirty feet, he reached inside himself pulling out his top speed and blasted forward, kicking up a large dirt cloud behind him.

_Twenty… Ten… Five… Three… NOW!_ And he leapt! On an instinct deep inside of him, he curled into a ball and did many somersaults while soaring through the air.

_Ground, sky, ground, sky… _And following that same instinct that caused him to curl up, he straightened his body out and landed. But instead of landing on the tree branch, he landed easily on a grassy patch of dirt.

Looking back, he realized that he had just cleared the river's gap with ease. "For Pete's sake, what _else_ can I do…?" Eddie whispered to himself disbelievingly.

He shook his head and looked towards the shattered city. He knew he should have turned back. That not too long ago, he was promising never to leave Miles and that he could very well die by venturing into the city. But he would not rest until he saw the full extent of the damages himself.

And regardless of the risk, he blasted forward, kicking up more dust clouds.

Eggman laughed loudly as he walked the war torn streets of Mobius. "You should have never scorned me like you did, Mobius! I warned you so many years ago! You called me crazy, but now I'm the only one left!"

"_Sir, there is an intruder. Someone is entering the city._" A SwatBot that was walking beside him said in its metallic voice.

Eggman sighed. "An evil genius' work is never finished… Very well, dispatch a troop of SwatBots to detain him. Don't kill him unless he is a threat." The robot did not reply, but instead opened up its chest cavity and pressed a few buttons on a small consol inside there.

"_The Fourth Regiment is intercepting at the moment._"

"Very good. Now, come, let's head that way. I want to be the one to kill whoever is defying me."

"_Yes, Emperor Robotnik_" An evil leer washed over Eggman's face at the name Robotnik. When he had finished destroying the city, he realized that the name _Eggman_ did not suit a future emperor of the world. So, instead, he changed his name to Robotnik, a name that he thought suited him _much_ more.

"On better thought, call a Hovercraft. I'm sick of walking."

_**TSEEW!**_ Eddie dodged right and avoided the laser bolt with room to spare.

"Come on, you big bucket of bolts! Can't you even hit _one_ little target?" He said, taunting the solitary SwatBot that had come across him.

Suddenly, three laser bolts peppered the ground right by his feet and he spun around to see another dozen robots running his way.

"Outnumbered and outgunned… I like these odds!" Before the next volley of laser bolts could hit him, he had taken off straight for the dozen SwatBots.

"Wait for it… wait for it… Now!" He leapt, sailing over the heads of the robots and landing quietly on the other side. "That'll probably fry their circuits! If not, it'll confu—"

_**TSEEEEEEW!**_ Every robot had turned to face him and shot off a laser at the same time. Eddie barely jumped back in time to dodge them.

"Ooookay, note to self…" He dodged another laser bolt. "Robots have _motion sensors_!"

Suddenly the whine of more lasers silenced him and he looked over his shoulder to see another few dozen robots leveling lasers at him. The bots in front of him did the same.

Looking around for an escape route, he paled when he realized that he had trapped himself in an alley with two broken walls on both sides. _He had no escape route_!

But, for some reason unknown to him, the robots never shot. Instead, they withdrew their lasers and as a group began walking purposely towards Eddie.

"_You are under arrest by orders of Doctor Robotnik__ Do not resist or we will be forced to destroy you._" One of the SwatBots said.

"Well, _that_ was a bad move." Eddie whispered to himself, smirking at the robots' stupidity. And louder, he said, "All right! You caught me! Cuff me!"

The SwatBots stared at him in confusion, but a couple of them moved forward anyway. And just like that, there was an opening in the ranks of robots.

"_Really_ bad move. Sorry to be a party-pooper, but I gotta fly! Tell your boss that he'll never catch _this_ Gingerbread Man!" And suddenly, all the robots watched as he became a blue blur and shoot through the openings in the ranks.

"Have they caught the nuisance yet?" Dr. Robotnik asked the SwatBot sitting next to him in the cramped Hovercraft.

"_Negative._"

"What?! How could they _not_?!"

"_He escaped. He was too fast and escaped through an opening in the ranks as they moved forward to detain him_"

"How fast is _too_ fast?"

"_Unknown. They were not able to get a lock on the intruder before he was out of their range._"

Robotnik groaned loudly and clenched his fists in frustration. Gritting his teeth, he asked, "Where is he _now_?"

"_Directly below us._"

Robotnik paled and immediately sent the Hovercraft to the ground, not even bothering to land it correctly.

Eddie watched with interest as the Hovercraft hit the ground roughly and slid a few feet across the ground before coming to a stop. When he had seen the ship, he had momentarily stopped.

The Plexiglas dome of the Hovercraft lifted to reveal an overweight man who stepped out. The man stared at Eddie for a few moments in wonder. Now Eddie was able to recognize him. He _was_ the Dr. Eggman that his father had sued! But why was he taking over the city?

"You are Dr. Eggman." Eddie said while glaring at the fat man with hatred.

"No. I am now Dr. _Robotnik_! Who are _you_?" Robotnik said while pulling a laser gun from its holster in his belt.

"You destroyed my city!" Eddie cried, clenching his fists as all the pent up anger in him became evident. "You killed thousands! You ruined the life of my friend and God knows how many others!"

Robotnik smirked. "I'm _so_ sorry. How about I fix that right _now_?" He pulled the trigger on the laser gun, but the red laser only hit the torn streets. Eddie had dodged with ease.

"You won't get away with it, you know." Robotnik whipped around to see the blue hedgehog standing on top of his personal Hovercraft. "You have the entire country against you now. You can't hope to win!"

_**TSEEW!**_ Robotnik watched in horror as Eddie leaped away and the laser ended up putting a sizeable hole in the Plexiglas dome.

"What are you?!" Robotnik yelled while leveling his gun as Eddie again.

Eddie looked at him with an amused smirk. "Just your everyday, average blue, super fast hedgehog."

"Hedge…hog?" Robotnik's eyes narrowed. "And your name?"

Eddie stared coolly at Robotnik for a long time, contemplating on whether or not to tell him his real name. He thought about that day and everything that had happened. Maybe his life was flashing before his eyes, maybe his remembering the day was a random thing, but regardless of that, his mind focused on one thing… his _speed_. And suddenly, he knew what to tell him.

"SonicCall me Sonic the Hedgehog." And suddenly he was gone, a blue blur against the dark buildings. And before either the SwatBots or Robotnik could react, he turned a corner and was gone.

Red Sonic, that's for you! I told you I couldn't stand Eggman for much longer!

Anyway, thanks for the good reviews, even if there were only two! Read and review, everybody!

And tune in next time, because I'm hoping for a big plot advancement (Note that it may take two chapters to get to what I'm thinking about!).

God bless anybody who reviews! …And God bless everyone else too, of course!

--Ben


	7. Dogfight

_**Chapter 6: Dogfight**_

The Wolf blasted through the night sky, almost too fast for the eye to see. Inside, thanks to recent technology, Jason Powers was somewhat comfortable. Although the technology lessened the G Forces because of his speed considerably, it still never completely eradicated them. Thanks to this, he found it unnaturally hard to move, but that was fine by him. He was trained to be able to move freely under gravity's pressure and this was just a chance to prove it.

"Five minutes until crunch time, boys. Be careful out there." His flight commander said over the radio. "I know you were briefed on this before, but I'll say it again. First run by is strictly reconnaissance. Do not engage in combat unless fired upon. We go in groups of two. You know your assignments. Now get to them!"

Immediately, Powers branched off from the group and switched his radio to another station so that he and his comrade could communicate. But he kept his second radio on the group station so he could hear about any other happenings to the whole of the group.

His teammate, one flying a Tiger, branched off as well, and he heard her voice over the intercom. "I really wish he wouldn't always say boys. He does have a girl in his squadron, after all!"

Power smiled at her voice. She was Christina Carmichael. Christina, or Chris, was the only female who made it into RABS. She could take on any one of the bigger men of the squadron in a one-on-one fight and come out the victor. And the worst part was that she knew it.

But that made no difference to Jason. The fact of the matter was that they were a couple. They had met each other in the Air Force Academy five years before and went out then. However, when college was finished, they went their separate ways, expecting never to see each other again. But then, on their first day of training for G.U.N., they met up again and picked up right where they had left off.

"You might as well be one of the guys! You sure act like it." Powers replied with.

Chris simply laughed and said, "Whatever. Let's just get this run over with. So we can get to the part where we wipe out his 'army'."

Jason smirked and pushed his jet to full throttle, rocketing ahead towards the closing city of Mobius. Chris was right on his tail.

Eddie, or Sonic as he desired to be called from now on, blasted through the forest, looking for the clearing. He had mixed feelings on his encounter with Dr. Robotnik, and, at the moment, he was sorting them out.

"I could have gotten killed…"

He stopped at a random meadow, hoping that it was his meadow. When he found that neither Miles nor Summer were there, he continued on his trek.

"But I just had to see the damage."

He blasted straight through a familiar clearing and out the other side.

"Of course, I know that I shouldn't have gone off on my own. I mean, even though I made it through easily, what would have happened if there were an ambush just waiting in the forest? I left and when I came back, they were sleeping peacefully, but there was always the possibility of me coming back and not finding them… or worse, finding them dead."

Stopping himself, he ran back into the familiar clearing and breathed a sigh of relief. "They didn't wake up… Good." He said quietly. Then, as quietly as he could, he grabbed out a journal, something he had salvaged from the wreckage of his… home, and began writing:  
"In reality, I got lucky. But I can't afford to take that kind of risk anymore. Maybe having the muzzles of laser guns shoved in my face did this, but I realize now that Miles and Summer are all I have left in this world. I have no home, no other friends, no family. Who knows who's alive and who's dead? Not me. And until I find out for myself, I will consider my two friends all I have left.

"I'm getting really sleepy now, so I'm going to stop here. Running around town at super speeds tires a guy out.

"Oh, and a note to self: Find out a way to lessen the heat in my shoes after running. It isn't cool when your feet feel like they're on fire."

Sonic smiled at his writing and closed the journal, sticking it in his pocket. He was sorry that he couldn't have gotten more stuff from his house, and there was more stuff to get, but he didn't want Summer and Miles to know about his escapade. It wouldn't go over well with them. So the journal, which he could hide, was the only item he could get.

Sighing heavily, he walked over to where Summer and Miles were sleeping and laid down within a few feet of them. But he couldn't fall asleep immediately. Instead, he put his hands behind his head and looked up at the stars.

The clouds are gone. Good thing too. I was afraid that it was going to rain, but I guess I was wrong. He sighed heavily and clenched his eyes shut, trying to stop the oncoming tears from flowing. A lump formed in his throat, and he got up again, knowing that he wasn't going to be falling asleep anytime soon.

He sat down on a log, looking up at the stars again. A single tear trickled down his cheek. Just barely above a whisper, he said, "God, I… I know that I don't really talk to you… ever. I don't know if you even exist, but…" He wiped away his tear. "If you exist, you know what's going on… right? You know why everything's happened and everything that's going to happen…

"If that's true… please give me something. Guidance or something. Something to help me. I can't handle this. Not by myself…" He frowned. "I have Miles and Summer, but… I need someone who at least has a clue! I need someone to share the responsibility of leadership with!

"So, please… do something. Relieve the pressure somehow. And… if my parents are alive… keep them safe." He paused and shook his head. "Keep us all safe."

Sonic blinked back a few tears and got up slowly. He walked back towards his spot on the ground, feeling a little better than before, but before he lied down again, he look up once more.

"And while you're at it, can you do something about Summer and me?" He broke into a small grin when he thought back at the kiss Summer had given. "That is, if we need it."

And with that, he lied down on the ground, and fell asleep quickly afterwards.

"All right, time to go. I'll go in hot, and you cover me. We go in low. Don't forget to turn on the rapid fires." Jason said over the radio before turning to the squadron's radio and confirming that they were beginning their run through the city.

He flicked on a switch on his control panel that turned on the rapid fire digital cameras that would send hundreds of pictures of the city back to G.U.N. headquarters, where it would be analyzed to see weaknesses in the robot army's defenses.

"You got it. Let's get this over with."

Powers suddenly drove the control stick forward, causing the F-16x to go into a steep dive. His speed shot upward while his altitude dropped. When he was low enough, he pulled back on the stick, ignoring the jet as it shook and rattled from the pressure, and leveled the Wolf out at one hundred feet above sea level.

Regardless of the quiet propulsion system, the jet screamed as it tore through the air at supersonic speeds.

The broken city approached with startling speed, but Jason was ready for it. "Slow it down, Chris. We can't maneuver well with this speed." He pulled back on the lever that controlled his speed and he listened as the whistling wind quieted some.

"Dear God… The city's practically a crater!" Chris said over the radio. "Jason… how can we face this guy? He wiped out an entire city in less than a day!"

Powers didn't answer. Instead, he concentrated harder on looking for anything interesting.

I see a lot of movement down there, but I can't see what it is. He moved the jet lower so he could get a better look at the moving objects.

"Robots. He's got robots every—" He was cut off as a white blur of motion flew past his cockpit. Then the jets alarms started going off. "Missile lock! Chris, evasive maneuvers! Get out of here!"

He pulled back and to the left, just barely dodging the next white blur, which he recognized as a small missile. The robots were firing at them!

His radio squawked, "Watch your six, Jason! Enemy aircraft!"

Before he could react, a red laser bolt hit his right wing and left a black burn mark. Thankfully, that was the only damage… so far.

He tried to turn around to get a good look at the aircraft, but it must have been too small for him to see around the bulk of his jet.

"I can't see him!" Another laser bolt flew right above his cockpit, barely missing him. He ripped the control stick to the right, the jet changing directions immediately. But another laser bolt told him that he hadn't shaken the robot.

"I'll get hi—AAH!" The sound of an explosion filled the radio for a moment before he was left with terrible silence.

"Chris! Chris, are you all right?" He looked around desperately to see her jet, but he couldn't see anything at the moment. "Come on, Chris! Answer!"

The radio crackled to life again and Jason sighed in relief when he heard the girl's voice. "Sorry, a missile exploded near me and it startled me. But I'm okay."

"Great! Now can you help me out?" He flew to the left, just barely missing a laser bolt.

"I'm coming, big guy! Hold on!" There was silence for a moment, spare the sound of laser fire, and then an explosion rattled his jet.

"Chris!"

"Got 'em! One bogey down!"

Jason looked at his radar and watched with dismay as many red blips appeared on it. "We're not out of the frying pan yet!"

"Crap! We can't take all of those down! What should we do?"

Jason bit his lip and thought about it for a moment. "Let's try to find another team! That way we'll double our numbers!" He looked at his radar focused on the green blips on it.

"Head east! It seems we aren't the only ones who got the idea to regroup!" He quickly pulled back on the stick, sending the jet up and into an inverted u-turn. He righted himself and pushed the speed of the jet back up to max. Chris followed his lead and did the same.

"Come to join us, have you, Powers? It's about time!" Jason's close friend, Brock Howard said over the intercom.

"Are there any casualties?" Jason asked, ignoring Brock completely. He only got silence over the radio. "Casualties! Are there any?" He demanded more urgently.

Finally, Brock replied, "The Commander's gone. He was caught off-guard by a missile."

Jason simply let out a loud curse. "So, what do we do now?"

"You tell me, buddy! You're the highest-ranking officer here!" Jason froze, he hadn't thought of that. Deciding against spending too much time in contemplating his promotion, he made his decision.

"Fall back. We need to report back to HQ and regroup. And make it fast!"

"Good call! You heard him, boys! Let's get out of this living hell!" The squad of jets moved as one and turned back towards headquarters, not even seeing the small flying robot about the size of a basketball following them.

"Eddie, would you get up?!"

SLAP!

Eddie's eyes fluttered open and he felt pain invade his cheek. Summer had hit him! And even worse, she was preparing to do it again!

"I'm awake, I'm awake!" Summer let her arm fall back to her side and she glared at the hapless Eddie. "What time is it?"

"How am I supposed to know? I don't have a watch! None of us do! And we can't see the sun because, well… look at the sky!"

Eddie focused on the sky and groaned loudly when he saw the dark clouds forming. It didn't take a meteorologist to tell him that it was going to rain.

"We have to find shelter!" He said, immediately jumping up from his spot on the ground.

"No! I thought we'd sit out here in the rain and do a Broadway show for the wildlife!" Summer said angrily.

"Yeesh, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed today."

"There is no bed!" Summer replied, raising a fist as a warning. Eddie backed down, deciding it wasn't the time for jokes.

"So, do you want me to go looking for a shelter?" The blue hedgehog asked, already getting ready to take off.

Summer nodded. "Miles and I have already checked out around there." She pointed to an area of the forest, indicating where they were. "But we're both tired. So if you would—" She was cut off as Eddie took off with a blast of speed in the direction that was expected of him.

"Why is it he's always like that…? Speedy or not, he's so impulsive…" She sighed heavily and then frowned. "Wait, did I see that ring on his finger again?"

There was a slight whoosh in the air as the red echidna landed in the tall tree overlooking the meadow. Other than that, there was nothing. Not even a rustling of leaves.

Knuckles looked down at the three teenagers in the meadow. A blue hedgehog, an orange fox with two tails, and a strange breed of yellow echidna… or was it hedgehog? Knuckles couldn't tell, so he decided it was probably a hybrid of some sort.

"Strange…" He whispered to himself. "They're humans, yet the rings gave them such strange attributes."

Suddenly, the blue hedgehog took off with speed such as Knuckles had never seen in a living creature before.

"Impossible… It shouldn't be possible for him to move that fast!" He shook off his surprise and watched the blur of blue as it disappeared into the trees. A flash of lightning and distant thunder pulled him back to the matter at hand.

He bent down low and leapt off the tree, flying up into the sky. He flew silently over the treetops, watching as Eddie ran through the forest, looking for shelter.

As Knuckles felt the first drop of water hit him in the back, his sighed. "Time to do this." And with that, he went into a steep dive, heading straight for the blue hedgehog.

"It's starting to rain." She said from inside the comfort of her wooden hut. The sounds of raindrops filled the small building and she sighed heavily. "I wish it didn't have to rain."

"Chao!"

She turned back to face the small blue creature known as a Chao. At the moment, the little ball floating about its head was a deep blue color and she couldn't help but to smile. And better yet, its blue-colored skin was beginning to get a slight pinkish tone to it. The Chao was growing up and it really liked its owner as well.

"Ruby… Don't look at me like that!" She paused. "I wasn't whining! I was just saying that I didn't want it to rain! … Oh, shut up."

The Chao plodded over to her and hugged her legs. "Chao…"

She brushed pink quills away from her face and giggled. "You little weasel. You always know how to get to me." She bent down and cradled Ruby the Chao. "At least nobody can ever say that Amy Rose is heartless… not that they could before!"


	8. New Ally

**Chapter 7: New Ally**

Sonic blasted through the forest, stopping at every clearing or large rock formation, looking for a cave or anything to hide in. But as the distance between him and the clearing grew, his hopes for finding shelter shrunk.

"How am I supposed to find something around here… It all looks the same!" He snarled at no one. He spotted a large rabbit—or normal sized rabbit; he was just smaller—to his right and absentmindedly moved away from it. A bird's cry from somewhere above startled him and he stopped to look around.

He didn't see the bird, so he was about to begin his search again. But then he spotted a tiny red speck in the darkening sky. At first, he passed it off as a far away bird or maybe even a bug. But as the flying thing got closer, he could see that it was nothing of the sort.

It was a creature of some sort, he realized. A creature that, for some reason, looked a lot like Summer. Its fur was a bright red color. In fact, that red fur covered its entire body, except for one spot on its chest, where there was a strange upside-down crescent-shaped patch of white fur. Bright red dreadlocks flailed in the wind and the creature was close enough for Sonic to nearly see the color of his eyes.

Sonic backed up a step, fear washing over him in waves. The creature landed now and he could finally make out its full details. Intelligent, blue eyes studied Sonic and then locked on his own emerald green eyes. His white gloves had two spikes of some sort jutting out viciously. They looked sharp enough to run someone through. The creature's muzzle resembled Summer's. The creature looked remarkably a lot like her, yet there were some major differences. The main one being in Summer's quills. This creature didn't have any.

"Who are you?" Sonic demanded, beginning bend down slightly so he could have a better running start if he was forced to flee. The creature didn't reply, but instead just watched Sonic with interest in its eyes.

"Come on, answer! Answer the freaking question!" Sonic pressed, clenching his fists. The red creature started chuckled in a strong-sounding voice. Yet, Sonic heard something else in that voice. Excitement. Anxiousness. Uncertainty.

Finally, the red foe answered. "Calm down." He said calmly, leaning against a tree branch. His eyes still shone with an unknown excitement. "I'm not here to hurt you."

Sonic relaxed about a hair.

"Fine. _**Don't**_ trust me." The red one said with a dramatic sigh. "_**But**_, if you want to avoid becoming one waterlogged hedgehog, I'd round up your gang and follow me."

Sonic didn't answer, but glared at the other person menacingly.

The red one sighed. "Listen. Drop the bad boy attitude. You're terrified. But, you're in luck. There's nothing to be scared of. Not unless you decide to pick a fight with me." He grinned, showing sharp, bright white teeth. He seemed interested in his spikes and brought them close to his face. Sonic knew he was showing off his weapons.

"Yeah, they're real." He suddenly said, changing the subject. And then slammed them into a tree, causing the wood to splinter and birds all around to scatter noisily.

If Sonic could, he would have paled. Finally, he spoke. "What's your name?"

The creature grinned again and showed his spikes again. "Knuckles. Knuckles the Echidna. And I already know you're name, Eddie. Or is it Sonic?"

Sonic grit his teeth. "Hey, I don't know who the heck you are, but you'd better start explaining!" Knuckles grinned and turned around, walking towards the direction of the clearing.

"I'll explain when we have everyone rounded up. I don't feel like explaining myself twice." He said, nonchalantly. Sonic quickly ran to the spot in front of him, blocking Knuckle from making any other steps.

"Take another step…" Sonic said threateningly.

"And what? You'll stop me? I already told you, I'm not here to—" And then Sonic cut him off by punching him square in the jaw. Knuckles' eyes flared in anger and he backed up a step.

"I'm sick of that! I don't trust you and until I get some answers, you aren't even going _**near**_ them!" Sonic said, raising his fist to make his point. Knuckles was mildly impressed. He had been expecting this response.

"You don't get it, do you? I've ripped entire _**trees**_ out of the ground before, roots and all. I can fly too." He lifted off the ground slightly. "I could fold you into a ball before you could even _**think**_ about fighting back! Now, unless you have a death wish, I suggest you cut me some slack. I'm here to help. I can take you to some shelter."

Sonic never stopped glaring at Knuckles.

"Fine. If it's a fight you want, you got it. I'm a little bored anyway." Knuckles said, his voice rising slightly with excitement. He was a fighter by nature, but ever since his sparring opponents—his brothers—died… He shook those thoughts off and returned to the present.

Sonic went into a sprint, crossing the distance between them in the blink of an eye. He went straight from Knuckles' face, trying to punch him, but Knuckles dodged the blow and landed his own punch right in Sonic's gut, making sure not to impale him with his knuckles in the process.

Sonic stumbled back and tripped on a tree branch, falling backward. The single punch had completely knocked the breath out of him and he was gasping for air. But regardless of that, he rose slowly to his feet, holding his chest in pain, and steeled himself for another attack.

"You'll… You'll pay for that…" He said weakly, in between gasps.

"Why don't you just quit this stupid attitude now, before you _**really**_ get hurt?" Knuckles asked, interested at Sonic's unwillingness to give up. "I told you, I'm—"

He was cut off as Sonic blasted forward again. He leaped over Knuckles and tried to hit him from behind, but Knuckles swung around quickly and backhanded Sonic in the jaw, causing the blue foe to fly to the side and crash into a tree.

Already, Sonic was battling unconsciousness and his voice was slurring slightly. A light amount of blood seeped into his blue fur from a small cut opened up from the latest hit. Another cut had opened up on his head, where he hit the tree.

Knuckles glided over to him and pulled Sonic to his feet, letting the blue teenager rest on his shoulders. "Sorry, 'bout that. But I warned you…" Before Knuckles could say anymore, Sonic lashed out, elbowing him in the gut. Knuckles dropped Sonic to the ground and glared at him.

"You just never give up, do you? Fine. If I tell you about myself, will you calm down?" Sonic slowly sat up, his eyes drooping a bit from disorientation.

In a weak voice, he replied, "It depends on whether or not I like you after the story."

Knuckles smirked. "Fine. I am part of an ancient race of Demihumans. Part animal, part human, you could say. Although, we aren't mutants. We're just another race of creatures on this planet.

"Many years ago, before humans even began making civilizations and such, we existed and prospered. We had a written law code and had technology unlike that of human beings at the time. We were the lords of the earth.

"But as time went on, humans prospered and pushed the Demihumans out of the picture. They started killing us out of greed and fear. We were forced to run into hiding." Knuckles continued the story, leaving out one important detail—the prophecy.

"My family was entrusted to guard the Chaos Emeralds. And when given that task, we split the Emeralds up, putting them at different corners of the world. However, off of each Emerald, we cut a sliver off of it and graphed it into a ring or a bracelet." Sonic looked at the ring on his finger intensely when he realized what Knuckles was talking about.

"Yes, you wear one of those very rings. The reason why we did so, if you're wondering, is so we could find the Emeralds later, if they were ever needed. Each of the Emerald pieces will search their larger counterparts out until they're finally joined with the Emeralds again."

Knuckles brought his wrist to his face and showed a golden bracelet with a bright red Emerald in it. "I have one. You have one. And each of your friends has one."

Sonic got up slowly and looked at his ring once more. "So… how would this ring search out the bigger ones?"

Knuckles smirked and pulled off his bracelet. He held it up into the air and suddenly a thin red beam of light shot from the small gem and flew in a northeastern direction. After a few seconds, he put the bracelet back on and the beam disappeared.

"Let me guess, that showed the way to get to the emerald?"

"Exactly. But don't ever bother trying to get the emerald yourself. It's guarded by… certain creatures of the old world."

"Certain creatures?"

"Let me put it this way. Most people believe that the dinosaurs have all died out. For the most part, that is true. But certain dinosaurs may still live. They're just in hiding."

Sonic's eyes widened. "Are you telling me that _**dinosaurs**_ guard the emeralds!?"

"Amongst other things." Knuckles said with an air of confidence.

"What are the other things?"

Knuckles shrugged. "I have no idea. My family hid the emeralds generations ago. I actually only know that two of the emeralds hold a dinosaur. The others might, but may not."

"That's comforting." Sonic replied.

"Well, we'll hopefully never have to seek them out."

"Well, I hoped to live a normal life. Look at me _**now**_." The hedgehog said bitterly.

Knuckles patted him on the shoulder and replied with, "Welcome to _**my**_ life."

------------------------------------------

The F-16x landed on the runway at their headquarters in an Air Force Base nearby easily and seconds later, Jason jumped out of the cockpit. He waited momentarily to make sure the members of his squadron had landed and then took off towards the office building that held his superiors.

He navigated the hallways quickly and came to a door. The words on the door said Brig. General Stryker. He walked in unannounced. Inside, the aging General sat behind his desk, working on depleting a mountain of paperwork.

"Sir." Jason said softly and Stryker looked up at him.

"Yes? What is it…" He looked at Jason's nametag and finished, "Lieutenant Powers?"

"Sir, I bring news from the Mobius front."

Stryker sat up straight and gave his white mustache a tug. "Go on, go on. Wait, have a seat first. You look tired."

Jason said down and breathed deeply. He wiped the sweat from his brow before continuing. "It was… a massacre waiting to happen, Sir. The robots were far more advanced than we had expected."

"Casualties?"

"Just one—Major Leon was killed by enemy fire."

Stryker cursed and leaned against his chair. "And I suppose the reason you're here is because you are now the highest ranking officer in the squadron."

"Yes, Sir."

"Very well, describe the battlefield for me."

"A wasteland, Sir."

"Knock off the 'sir's. Just tell me."

"All right. It was a wasteland. Most of the buildings were completely leveled. Robots crawled the streets and they were equipped with rocket launchers and lasers. He also had flying robots, which matched our standard surveillance and dog-fighting speed. At full speed we outran them though. They also had lasers and rockets."

"Anything that looked like a good strategic target?"

"There were certain buildings left standing. Most of them were warehouses, but I noticed that there was quite a bit more guards around them. It also looked as if he was building some factories. But the most noticeable building was in the middle of the city. It hadn't been fully built yet. In fact, it's far _**from**_ it. But he's got robots working on it. It looks like it will be a skyscraper. I bet it'll be his headquarters."

"Very well. Your squadron did their job as well as to be expected. Take your jets to maintenance if you need any repairs. You're finished for today." Jason stood to his feet and saluted.

"And Captain Powers." Jason froze at the rank that the General had applied to him. "Tell your men to be ready. I don't know when, but you can bet there will be a battle for that city."

------------------------------------------

Summer shivered and put an arm around Miles, pulling him close. The rain was coming down harder now and the two were already drenched. "Come on, Eddie…" She said softly.

And as if on cue, Eddie, in all his blue glory, burst from the forest and landed right in front of Summer. Miles cried out in surprise and Summer screamed. "Hey! Calm down, it's just me!"

Summer relaxed and resisted the urge to hug him. "Did you find a shelter, Eddie?"

"Um… In a way."

"What do you mean?" Summer asked. Miles shivered as the rain beat down on them and Summer squeezed him.

"Well…" Eddie began as Knuckles stepped out of the forest behind him.

"Eddie, look out!" Summer cried, pointing at the red echidna. Eddie held up a hand to calm her.

"Summer, it's okay. He's a friend!"

"But—"

"Trust me on this one, okay? He's on our side. His name's Knuckles." Summer stared at Knuckles warily and stayed a bit closer to Eddie. She hugged Miles a bit tighter too. All the while, the water still came down, now in torrents.

"Eddie, what's going on?" Summer asked, raising her voice to be heard over the rain.

"I'll explain soon enough. Right now, we have to go! We'll all get sick if we don't!"

Summer nodded slowly. Eddie looked at two and smiled. "Told you I'd find us something."

"Actually, you seemed content to just ignore my offer of shelter and attack me." Knuckles added before walking off back into the forest. Eddie glared at his back and then turned back to the others.

"He's probably not going to wait for us, so let's hurry." And the trio took off after their new ally.

------------------------------------------

"How hard is it to find a single person!?" Robotnik snarled. He crashed his fists on the armrests to his hover chair. The force of the blow made the floating chair shudder slightly, but he ignored it.

"_**Emperor, the blue hedgehog is very fast. And he escaped into the forest, where we had decided not to put surveillance equipment.**_"

_**A blunder…**_ Robotnik said to himself. He would have never said it aloud though, not even to a stupid robot. And speaking of stupid robots…

"Get out into that forest and _**find**_ him!" He bellowed, leaving a thin film of saliva on the robot that stood a mere foot or two away from him. The mechanical being didn't flinch—after all, Robotnik didn't _design_ it to.

"_**Yes, Emperor. Do you specify a starting point?**_"

"Surround the forest. Go at him from all sides!"

"_**Negative, Emperor.**_" The robot started. Robotnik's nostrils flared in anger. "_**That would take us into the city limits of the neighboring city. That is against our initial programming.**_"

Robotnik wasn't happy about this. Snarling, he took out his laser gun and blasted the robot in the chest, causing a chain reaction that destroyed the entire robot.

He quickly caused the chair to zoom towards a large console. This was the console he used to control individual robots or control them as a whole. Entering in a series of commands, he changed their programming to allow them to go into the next town. It was about time for his next conquest anyway.

"Once you've obliterated the town, set the forest on fire. Create a ring of fire that will close in on those accursed animals!" He snarled, entering in the commands as he spoke. "Show them that nobody challenges Robotnik and lives!"

Long wait… Sorry about the long wait, my multitudes of fans! ::A cricket chirps:: Erm… Anyway, I'm really sorry about the long wait. I hope that the next chapter will come out faster, but that also depends on how many hours at work I get, how tough my school this year gets, and whether or not I get another bad case of writer's block!

Alrighty… ::Cracks knuckles:: Time to reply to my one review with enough stuff in it worth making out a reply to.

And that review belongs to… Drum roll, please… **Red Sonic**!

Anyway, thanks for the great complements. I've been working hard on making the characters as they should be and I guess the hard work's paying off!

As for bringing Sally in… I've thought about it. And I've thought about it some more. And I'm still thinking about it. I actually have another love triangle planned for Sonic, Summer, and another character that I refuse to reveal just yet!

But Sally is a possibility. I'm not ruling her out just yet. And the only reason I would really consider **not** doing it is because it's been virtually forever since I watched SatAM or read one of the Archie Comics.

Anyway tune in next time! It's gonna be good!

Oh and because I didn't do it earlier, I don't own Sonic or any of its characters. I own Summer though!

--Ben


	9. A Madman's Conquest

I don't own Sonic or any of the characters!

With that out of the way… This is a longer chapter, just for you readers! Some _huge_, well overdue plot twists are in this one and they'll continue into the next chapter! I'm sorry for the long wait, but I've been super busy lately! I finally abandoned my homeschool ways and joined my brother at a nearby Christian School, so this brought a whole new level to my life! Juggling a part-time job, which likes giving me hours, school, and my life, makes it hard to write! But today I sat myself down after work… and wrote four hours straight! I finally finished this chapter and now I'm posting it! Happy reading! And review please!

**Chapter 8: A Madman's Conquest**

The storm was nowhere near dissipating as noon approached Square Gardens, Indiana. And one could interpret that as why the streets were eerily quiet, but that was only half an answer.

"They're cowards! They're all friggin' cowards!" A man in his 50's or 60's said as he dealt out some cards to his poker buddies. A few others—most all of them, actually—nodded and spoke in agreement.

One, however, didn't. "I don't think they're cowards. This madman—Robotnik or whatever his name is—is obviously powerful and dangerous! And he may not just desire to take over Mobius alone! He _could_ come here—if he has the resources!" This man was the only of his buddies that _wasn't_ in a previous war, which could explain why he wasn't as headstrong as the others.

The first man held a hand up. "Now, wait a minute. Our military is strong enough to handle this."

"Well, I know, but—"

"Trust me on it! I know the Bureaucratic crap will slow it down a bit, but I _guarantee_ that they'll be all over him like flies on…" He paused as a low whistling sound filled the air of the house they were in.

"What's that?" The dissenter asked. The other veterans traded glanced about each other. They all knew the sound too well, and they also knew it was far too late to escape.

And seconds later, the missile hit, and the entire house exploded in a fiery fury.

"Come on, Karen! Move it!" Her mother called. But Karen the rebellious thirteen-year old just crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. Her mother would never understand. She and Jack were meant to be and—

"If you aren't in the restaurant in two minutes, I swear you won't go out on another date until you're _eighteen_!" Karen smirked and watched as her mother walked off into the restaurant they were stopped at. She began counting down the seconds and after a minute and a half, she climbed out of the car and started walking towards the restaurant, fully intending on making it there with only seconds to spare.

But it would seem a few seconds was something she just didn't have; for as she began crossing the tarmac towards the restaurant her waiting family, another missile struck, completely obliterating the restaurant and everyone inside.

She didn't even have time to mourn. The explosion caused a large piece of rubble to fly off into the sky and slam into her petite body, crushing her immediately.

And so the madman's conquest began again…

"This just in: The city of Square Gardens, Indiana is under attack! Julius Eggman—now known as Robotnik—has set his army of robots on the city! Our sources say that the government plans to launch an immediate counterattack and—" Robotnik turned off his portable television and grinned.

He enters some commands in his computer console to prepare his army for a counterattack and then looks to his three-dimensional map of Square Gardens. He watched as one-by-one the taller buildings fell to his might and then came the smaller ones as well. And on the ground, although it wasn't shown on the map unless he zoomed in, he knew that his robots weren't taking any prisoners this time. Any person they came across, they shot down immediately.

_All because of a single hedgehog…_ With a sneer, Robotnik started rapidly typing on his keyboard, entering new commands. "Go, my army. Find the hedgehog. _Kill_ the hedgehog. Seek and destroy! Burn the entire forest!" He laughed manically. "My Hovercrafts! Shoot your arms into the forest! Corner him; blow him up!" In the dark recesses of his mind, Robotnik knew he was truly insane. He knew he had become truly insane from the decade spent alone, building his robots. But he also knew he didn't care. Not at all…

Knuckles moved quickly through the forest, dodging trees and other panicking animals as he ran. Sonic, Summer, and Miles all followed quickly behind. The forest all around them burned with fury, smoke filling the air so thick they could scarcely see ten feet in front of them.

Summer coughed hoarsely from the smoke and felt herself grow faint, but she focused and shook off the feelings of faintness. "Eddie! Knuckles! I don't know how much—" She broke into another fit of coughs so violent that she had to stop and hold her chest. When that had ended, they kept moving. "I don't know how much longer we can handle this smoke! We need to find shelter!"

"No! We need to keep moving as fast as we can! The fire's closing in on us fast!" Knuckles yelled back, having to overpower the sound of the roaring forest fire. A missile struck the ground some short distance away and the sound nearly deafened them, as well as cause the ground and trees around them to tremble violently.

Knuckles saw an orange glow suddenly appear in front of him and he turned to the left immediately, picking up his speed a little bit. His motions looked jerky—not as fluid or smooth as normal—and Sonic saw this. He ran up beside the red ally and yelled into his ear, "You know where we're going, right!?"

"Trust me!" Knuckles yelled back. His voice was confident—strong. But his thoughts weren't nearly as sure of himself. _Home is north… so it's to the left, right? No, wait, we changed directions, so it's straight ahead. No, it's…_ Knuckles resisted the urge to cry out in frustration. He knew the smoke had seriously hampered his ability to find his way home. He looked for any landmarks or clues that he had left for himself so he could find his way home. But with the smoke as thick as it was, he could hardly see five feet ahead of himself. And worse yet, it was still pouring rain, the dark clouds choking out any extra light. Lightning flashed and deafening thunder followed, but the rain did not seem to be calming the raging fire.

They finally stopped for a rest at a small clearing in which the smoke wasn't as dense. Miles was clinging to Summer while Sonic paced back and forth. Knuckles leaned against a large tree, looking up passively, deep in thought.

Sonic muttered something, looked to see Knuckles, and then went back to muttering. Summer, once again, noticed the blue ring on his finger. "Eddie," she began. He stopped pacing and looked up at her "Why are you still wearing that—" She was cut off as Miles body shuddered and he broke into a fit of coughs that would have forced him to his knees if Summer didn't catch him.

His coughing fit lasted only for a few seconds, but it was obvious that he was getting worse by the minute. Summer momentarily forgot about the ring and looked at Sonic with pleading eyes. Sonic nodded, understanding what she was asking him to do and walked over to Knuckles.

"Knuckles!" He called. The echidna didn't reply. "Knuckles, where the heck are we, and—more importantly—where are we going!? And how far is it? We can't handle much more of this!" The red echidna looked down at Sonic for a second, his eyes cool, and then looked back up with a snort. It was obvious that he didn't want to talk at the moment.

Another thing obvious was that Sonic didn't have the patience for this. With a snarl, he pushed Knuckles against the tree even further, getting close to Knuckles' face. "What is _wrong_ with you!?" He demanded, his emerald green eyes blazing with fury.

"Eddie!" Summer cried from behind him, but Sonic didn't pay her any mind. Instead, he glared into Knuckles' eyes now, as the two entered into a battle of wills.

Knuckles didn't move to get Sonic off of him, knowing full well he was just stalling the inevitable—admitting to himself and to the others that he no longer knew the way to his home. He resisted the urge to run right then and there—to push Sonic off of him and take to flight, never looking back. But he knew he had a duty to accomplish. A duty passed down from generation to generation in his family and he would not let this trial get in the way of that.

He calmly pushed Sonic back, not even enough to make him stumble and looked to Sonic coolly once more. "We were resting, as I said, but it's time to start moving again." The blue hedgehog stared at Knuckles for a while before nodding slowly. It was evident in his eyes though that he wasn't so sure of Knuckles' plan.

Sonic turned around to face Summer and walked closer to her. "We're moving on." He said softly. She nodded slowly and looked back down at Miles. Sonic kneeled down and looked at Miles face-to-face. "Hey, short guy. Think you can handle this for a bit longer?" Miles nodded and smiled weakly. Sonic wasn't so totally sure he was telling the truth.

But, with a shrug, Sonic rose back up, rubbing Miles' hair, and grinned at Summer. "Let's—" He suddenly noticed something was missing from his jacket—_his journal_! He got frantic, looking around, and then spotted it at Summer's feet.

Summer saw the small journal as well and bent to pick it up, but suddenly Sonic snatched it from the ground, stuffing it back into his jacket pocket, and with another grin, walked off quickly.

Summer watched him for a while, contemplating the small notebook she had seen. _What was that…? What's he hiding?_ But when Knuckles called for them to follow, she stored the thoughts away in the recesses of her mind and started running after them with Miles by her side.

"Move, move, move! C'mon, we don't have much time!" A short chipmunk-squirrel cried to her friends—her subordinates—not that she'd ever treat them much like that. "There are animals dying in there!"

Demihumans leapt out of the large hole in the ground, spreading out into the burning forest, looking for any trapped or hurt animals. She looked down back into the hole, knowing full well it snaked underground for miles until it reached their home of Knothole in a forest quite a ways away. Anybody who found it could find them, of course, but they had come up with two ways to keep them away. The tunnel had very many branches in it that led to dozens of other forests—and plenty of dead ends just for added measure. It would be very difficult for anyone to find them! And the other measure was the fact that it was so long back to their home that they had to ride in a tunnel car just to reach most of the other forests. And they only had two cars, one in use and the other as a backup if the first ever broke down. They never left the car anywhere but their home in its garage hut, therefore preventing anyone else to use it.

A twig cracked and she spun around to face a black hedgehog. "Shadow. What are you doing!? Get moving!" The hedgehog's red eyes narrowed.

"Princess Acorn," He said, using her formal name. The chipmunk glared at him and he corrected himself by adding, "Sally," to his statement, "Why are we even _here_? We can't save them all. And what happens if we run into some humans!? If that happens, everything our ancestors have worked to do for centuries will be rendered useless! We'll be found out!"

Sally sighed, shaking her head. "Shadow Hedgehog, you are hopeless. Listen, I don't have time to explain this… _again_. Not now. Just go! If you see any humans, just run away! You're fast enough!"

"What about if you get seen? Or worse—captured!" Shadow, long ago, had taken it upon himself to be Sally's unofficial bodyguard, although she had absolutely no need for it. Back in the days where Demihumans ran freely and happily, Hedgehogs were the royal bodyguards to the current kings and queens of their time—this was because of their lightning quick reflexes and unnatural speed. Now, when kingdoms no longer exists in the Demihuman lives, there was no royal bodyguards. However, Shadow's heritage was no secret to him and he had decided to bring it back after a human hunter inadvertently killed their last 'prince'.

Sally waved him off and patted the combat pole strapped to her side. "Shut up and go, Hedgehog. I'll be all right." Shadow's icy eyes stared into hers and she stared back into his. It was a battle of will and strength—of which neither hedgehog nor chipmunk would back down.

Finally, Shadow sighed heavily, nodding. "Fine. Be careful." He turned around and ran into the forest, disappearing quickly into the smoke. Sally watched him with soft eyes and then ran in the opposite direction.

He was coughing again. Miles doubled over, clenching his eyes in pain. His throat was sorer than it had ever been before. This coughing fit kept going on though, even after Eddie and Knuckles had run to him. Summer rubbed his back and was there from the beginning. Miles' coughs kept coming and his stomach heaved suddenly. He threw up what berries and fruits he had for breakfast that morning—that and whatever stomach acid he had left in his stomach.

He fell to his knees and moaned pitifully in pain. He could go on anymore… it was too much. He was deaf to the world and his breathing was scarce. His eyelids began to close and he succumbed to darkness.

"Miles! C'mon, Miles! Wake up!" He was jarred from unconsciousness seconds later as Eddie shook him roughly. He noticed though that his eyes weren't focusing right… Eddie looked sort of sick himself… he was blue…

"Eddie… you look weird…" He giggled then and then broke into another fit of rancid coughs, this time coughing up _blood_. As he coughed, memories flooded back to him—the attack, his father's _death_, the escape, the change… it _all_ came back to him and he felt unconsciousness begin to sneak up on him again.

Summer shook him awake this time. After all, Eddie—or Sonic as Miles' remembered he was told to call the blue hedgehog—was no longer in front of him. In fact, he had cornered Knuckles again.

The sound was muffled for the fox, his ears once again not working right. Or maybe it was the roaring of the flames… they were close, he knew—too close for any illusion of safety. Far too close.

He caught a few words—many of them words he wasn't allowed actually to say. Knuckles pushed him away, but Sonic was a blue blur, immediately right back into his face, merely inches away. "Where… going!?" Miles managed to catch. But he didn't actually care anymore. He was seeing colorful spots in his eyes… so pretty…

"I don't know, okay!?" He heard. Somewhere in the recesses of his mind, he recognized the voice as Knuckles'. "I'm lost! The smoke has… off!"

"Thrown you off!? What do you mean!? You've been leading us on a wild goose…" Miles heard Sonic say before it was muffled again. _Look…_ _An orange glow…_ He said to himself. _With the foggy stuff all around, it looks pretty too… just like the spots…_ Delusional, he knew he was becoming. But, like before, he didn't even care. Not anymore.

"Listen to me! I'll fly up and look…" Knuckles' voice faded completely as Miles' vision faded to black and his breath became very soft…

"Fine! Go fly!" Sonic screamed, his voice hoarse. He backed away from Knuckles, who now looked on the verge of cracking. The normally stern Echidna looked terribly hurt and like an absolute failure—which in Sonic's mind was the truth.

Knuckles clenched his fists so tightly his palm hurt. He closed his eyes and crouched down to fly off, but Summer's scream stopped him cold.

"Wake up, Miles! Come on, wake up!" He noticed that Sonic had run to the others and was now shaking Miles violently. The fox wasn't responding. Knuckles got closer and saw that Miles was breathing faintly, but had entered a comatose state. The smoke was too thick for the child to handle.

Sonic looked back at Knuckles, his formerly anger hardened face now soft. Tears were threatening to pour over his eyelids. "Knuckles, please… we don't have time for you to fly… just… get us to safety." Knuckles tore his eyes from Sonic's to Summer's and then to Miles' still form. He couldn't give up. He _had_ to find safety. He had no choice.

Clenching his fist with determination, he nodded. Adrenaline pumped through his veins and his senses were heightened from it. Panic threatened to overtake him, but he pushed it down. "Follow me." He said without emotion and took off in a different direction—away from the mow very bright orange glow. Sonic looked at Summer and then picked up Miles, cradling him in his arms. And together, the two friends followed the red echidna.

Sonic ran behind Summer to keep track of where she was, still cradling Miles. "Hurry up, Eddie!" Summer cried from ahead of him. "He's moving fast!" She poured on a burst of speed herself, one of which Sonic didn't know she could accomplish and pressed ahead. Sonic poured on his own speed, focusing solely on her yellow back. In his determination and concentration, he never saw the flaming tree. He never saw its splintered trunk (damaged by a nearby missile hit) finally give way. It crashed right in front of him, less than a foot away. His fur was singed by flame. Sparks and embers flew up and he cried in pain as his eyes were hit badly. He leapt, knowing the tree was still there, now keeping his eyes closed in pain. He felt the fire touch his legs and cried out in worse pain as his fur caught fire.

He hit the ground with a roll, still clutching onto Miles tightly. The fire was put out; the burns were still very real.

He was blind and lame. His legs still felt as though they were on fire and his eyes were no better. He tried to open his eyes to at least get a sense of where he was, but even that proved excruciating. He cried out for Summer—for Knuckles. No answer came to him.

A twig cracked near him. He ignored it. "C'mon, Miles…" He said, his voice barely audible over the raging inferno that he could _feel_ was all around him. "Wake up…" Miles didn't wake up and Sonic was still blind.

He slowly—painfully—stood to his feet, but his legs collapses. So he settled to crawling away from the flaming tree he knew was close, barely pulling Miles along with one arm.

He found a place that didn't seem as hot and set Miles on the ground. He clawed at his eyes, desperately trying to help them. He opened his eyelids, but only found a blur. He was unable to make out _anything_. He closed his eyes once more and dropped his face in his hands.

"I'm going to die here…" He said softly. "I lost Knuckles and Summer. I can't even _see_! I'm sorry, Miles. I can't… I can't do _anything_ anymore…"

He heard another branch crack and a gasp behind him. He looked to his behind in confusion. "Who's there!?" He asked loudly. A stammering voice. He frowned and tried to focus. His sight was getting better and he could barely make out a brown blur next to the gray and orange blurs all around him.

"Who… who are you…?" It was a girl, Sonic realized.

"Don't you mean _what_?" Sonic said incredulously. Why wasn't this girl scared. There was a bit of silence before she answered.

"Here. You're eyes look kind of bad and I'm willing to bet you can't see very well. I have a water canteen." Sonic felt her hands touch his own and he was surprised that she was so close. He felt a canteen be placed in his own hands and he immediately tipped his head backwards and to the side, eyes wide open. He poured the water into his eyes, relishing in the coolness of the liquid. He blinked out the water for a bit and then looked at her. His sight was still a little blurry, but it was _obvious_ that she wasn't human.

With a yell of surprise, he jumped back, landing on his feet—only to collapse again. "Whoa! Calm down!" She cried. "I'm on your side!" It was interesting, Sonic thought, that she automatically judged who's 'side' he was on.

She was a strange creature. Brown fur covered most of her body, but she had a patch of tan fur on her chest and stomach like Sonic did. An unbuttoned blue vest covered any inappropriate areas and she was wearing a pair of shorts made from a blue material. The fur around her face was tan as well. She had pretty green eyes and a head full of red hair that reached down to her shoulders. She was petite, but held a wooden pole protectively enough for Sonic to know she knew how to use it.

"You're a… a…" Sonic stammered.

"A Demihuman! Come on, Hedgehog, figure it out!" She said, now a little exasperated. This blue hedgehog was a surprise, sure, but he was acting like he'd never even seen one of her kind before! He was acting like a _human_ when they caught sight of a Demihuman (not that it happened often)!

Sonic stared at her for a long time and then, in unison both pairs of eyes traveled to Miles' sleeping form. "You need some help. For that leg. And he's sick. Come on, I'll take you to some shelter." Sally said, brushing off her surprise, vowing to find more out about this hedgehog after they were safe.

"W-what?" Sonic asked incredulously. "But, my friends…"

"You're friends will be fine! Trust me!" The leader of Knothole said sternly. "Now, come on!"

Sonic stared into her eyes. He didn't know why, but he trusted her. Maybe it was something in her voice. Or maybe her eyes. Whatever it was, every ounce of his being trusted her. So, without further conversation, he slowly pushed himself to his feet. She handed him her pole and he used it like a cane. He then looked to Miles' prone form and frowned. But the woman put his thoughts to ease when she lifted Miles up into her own arms. She was stronger than she looked.

"I'll take care of the fox. You just lean on the pole." Sonic, still too stunned by this turn of events to resist, nodded in agreement. "Now, come on. We have to hurry—we're already behind schedule." And with that, she began walking. And Sonic the Hedgehog followed.

This was all too much for the red echidna. Less than a minute ago, he was sure he was the only _real_ Demihuman left alive. The echidnas were the last of the race, he thought! Yes, there was always his trio of allies, but they were half-lings if even that. Humans in the bodies of Demihumans.

But now this black hedgehog stood in front of him. Cold eyes glared at Knuckles and Knuckles replied with the same. The hedgehog was different than Sonic. While Sonic's quills were vertically challenged—falling from his head like hair—this hedgehog's quills fell slightly before slanting upwards. He was mostly covered in black fur and quills, but the upper sides of the spikes of quills on his head were all red while the sides and undersides were black. He had a patch of unruly white fur that extended from the midpoint of his chest up to his neck.

The hedgehog had no weapons, but it was obvious he knew how to fight. Unknowingly, they started circling each other, waiting for the other to crack. Knuckles had no reason to fight this hedgehog. Part of him knew that. He should have been overjoyed to see that he _wasn't_ the last of his kind! But he had pushed those thoughts out of his head. He had to protect Summer at any cost. After losing Sonic and Miles, he had promised to, at least, see her safety and then go out to look for the other two. And then they had stumbled onto the menacing hedgehog with eyes that were _too_ dark for Knuckles' taste. Few words had been exchanged. It was obvious that each was slightly intimidated by the other. It was a power struggle now. A battle of the mind. And it was obvious to Knuckles that the hedgehog wouldn't crack. Well, neither would he.

Summer stood back wide-eyed and watched. She knew what was coming. Not a doubt in her mind. She knew she should stop it, but her confusion and fear for her friends was too great for her to even try. No, she would watch the coming events unfold and hope for the best.

Silence reigned between the two fighters. And a fare amount of silence would continue between them even long after the oncoming battle. The battle itself would only be interrupted by grunts of pain or frustration. Neither was in a talking mood.

A flash of lightning. A crash of thunder. The rain, which had finally ended, started up again. And that was all they needed. Without a sound, the true power struggle began. Hedgehog verses Echidna. And _neither_ had any intention of losing.


	10. Red, Black, and Blue

Chapter 9: Red, Black, and Blue 

"We're going in hot, folks. Hold onto your lunches." Jason Powers said into his flight helmet's microphone. There were no replies, but he knew they were all out there, listening and waiting for his signal. And when he said the simple word, "Go," they did just that. Silent save the hum of the electro-magnets, the jets cut through the air light sunlight might cut through darkness. Dark clouds still covered the land with their darkness and rain pattered on his domed windshield. At his speed though, the rain merely moved off to the side of the windshield. Within seconds, his jet would increase it's speed to nearing its top speed and the friction would cause the outside of the ship to heat up very much—enough to cause the raindrops to sizzle into a gas as they hit the supersonic jet.

A gray shadow had been cast over the leveled city. It seemed as though the very color had vacated the place just like the life that used to be abundant there. Leftover newspapers, cans, bottles, and virtually anything else anyone was carrying around at the time of the attack littered the ghost town and added to the overall affect of the place of destruction. Buildings were skeletal at most—most all that was left was bent and broken metal supporters—if even that. Some of the luckier ones had entire walls left standing, but those were also few.

Powers willed himself to stay strong while surveying the monumental damage to the city. He had heard the news reports. And, seeing it himself again, this time closer than before, he knew they were correct. The country of America, in its entire history, had never seen such horrible destruction on her soil. Not Pearl Harbor, nor the Twin Tower incident. Thousands of people had been killed in this city—in only a day. Looking over the destruction, it was impossible for Powers to stop the blast of ice that ran down his spine. As the jet screamed over the city—dangerously close to the ground—he could have sworn he heard a scream from a person long lost whose scream was ended abruptly by laser fire. People cried out to him—begging him to save them. "_What are you doing!?_" They screamed. "_Powers, we're under attack! We're under_—" The voice was cut off by the short sound of a laser bolt before it was silenced.

Then Powers woke up. His eyes widened and he cursed loudly, looking frantically at his radar screen. Two of his green allies were gone from the screen—blown to pieces while he was away in dreamland. He cursed himself and checked again the radar, now looking for those living—and who they were. He saw Chris's ship. Red blips surrounded it and he cried out in frustration before swinging the jet in a wide arc, trying desperately to reach his love before it was too late. As military protocol and instincts kicked in, he checked once more his radar, checking to see if there were any others in distress. It would seem that after the first two were caught off-guard by the blasts, the rest were able to get into the battle in time.

He kept flying towards Chris, but suddenly alarms went off in the F-16x. Enemy fighters were approaching rapidly—from directly in front of him. He saw them now. There was three of the strange egg-shaped Hovercraft. Lasers sprayed toward him, but they were not very accurate and merely scraped his wings or missed altogether. He let loose his own ammunitions, but his foes dodged and kept coming. They screamed past him and turned around quickly. More laser fire came from behind.

"Crap! I'm in need of assistance!" He cried into the microphone, putting the jet into a mad spin to avoid the lasers.

"_Hang on, Captain! I'm com—_" His voice ended abruptly and Jason was left with only static. Another green blip disappeared from his radar.

Lightning cracked across the sky and when the flash came, Knuckles' and Shadow's feet were pounding across the dirt and grass towards each other. Dirt was kicked into the humid air and the tension was so thick, it could be cut with a knife.

Knuckles leapt forward. He flew towards Shadow, his knuckles ready to shred anything in their path. Shadow's eyes widened and he leapt, barely sailing over the red echidna. He landed and spun around….

…And leapt back immediately as Knuckles' fist slept past his nose so closely that he heard the air whistle as the gloved fist cut through it. Knuckles responded with another fist—this one aimed for Shadow's midsection. Shadow was hit squarely in the stomach, and, although the knuckles didn't gut him, they left gashes in his stomach as he flew backwards, crashing roughly into a tree.

_He's much stronger than I am._ Shadow told himself as he saw Knuckles breathing heavily from the other side of the clearing. His red dreadlocks fell over his face, but Shadow was able to see his icy blue eyes. _But I'm faster. It's time to exploit that!_ He rushed forward, his shoes tearing up grass and dirt. Knuckles charged toward him as well. _Wait… wait… NOW!_ Shadow made a very slight change in his direction and the two barely missed each other. But the charge wasn't all worth nothing. Shadow stuck out arm horizontally in the last second and his fist collided solidly with Knuckles' snout, causing the Echidna to fall backward while still moving forward. Momentum called him to slide across the wet grass and then he went into a roll, finally coming to a stop a bit of a way before.

"_Knuckles!_" Summer cried from the edge of the clearing.

"So, Knuckles is your name…" Shadow said as his shoes stepped across the mud and grass. Every footstep was followed by a sickening squish because of the now soaked dirt-changed-to-mud. Knuckles slowly stood to his feet, wiping away blood pouring from his nose, but not really doing much. It would inevitably stain his fur for some time.

Shadow stopped a mere five feet away from Knuckles. He said nothing else. They stared into each other's eyes—one pair was red and the other, blue. He smirked. Knuckles' grit his teeth and tried to keep his emotions in line as to not fight blindly. There was another flash of lightning and, at once, the fight was on once again.

"_No!_" Powers cried as the laser bolt hit. The jet's engine exploded in a ball of fire. The F-16x shuddered horribly and its nose tipped downward. It gave one more shudder and there was another explosion—this one blew off the _entire_ tail section. "_NO!_" The jet started in a downward plummet to earth. Smoke filled the cockpit. Sparks flew from the control panels. There was a fire in the cockpit, but robotic fire extinguishers put it out even as the jet plummeted. Warning lights flashed. Alarms went off.

And Jason Powers screamed in anguish as Christina Carmichael's F-16x went into the nosedive. There was no way to even level it out with the destroyed tail. There was no chance of anything else than a straight dive into the ground—that would end her life quickly and painlessly. But that did not soften the blow for Jason Powers—not one bit.

"_NO, **CHRIS!!!**_" Powers screamed. He threw the jet into dangerous charge right at the Hovercraft that shot her down. It was a game of chicken. He was firing his ammunitions the entire way to blow it up long before they'd collide, yet… part of him willed the bullets to miss to he _could_ collide with it and end his meaningless existence—the one without Chris. Every bullet seemed to hit the Hovercraft with unwanted, but deadly accuracy. It blew into little pieces and the Wolf flew straight through the flames, coming out unscathed.

He was in a rage now. A blind rage. He flew at another Hovercraft, this time not even firing at it. He planned to suicide-crash into it and end the pain. Closer… closer… He was urging his jet to go faster. And then, suddenly, a missile collided with the Hovercraft and it suffered the fate of its former companion. Jason roared in frustration and pain. He looked around for the source of the missile and found one of his crewmates, Brock Howard.

"_Snap out of it, Jason! She's gone! There's nothing you can do about it! Don't kill yourself! We need you!_" Brock screamed into the intercom. Powers shook with rage and turned off the intercom. He would have his revenge. He would avenge his fallen angel!

_There!_ _Another Hovercraft!_ He piloted the jet towards the nearest Hovercraft, not noticing the one that came up directly behind him. If he had his intercom on, he would have heard Brock screaming at him to look at his six, but, unfortunately, he didn't. It didn't take long, though, for Jason to notice it. But, by then, it was too late.

There was an explosion and Powers' jet rocked violently. His eyes widened and he looked at the radar and saw the red blip right behind him. "No! I won't be shot down!" But, when he tried to turn to the side, he found the controls sluggish and unresponsive. "NO!" He cried, pulling on the control stick violently. A new sound filled his ears as he did this. A loud whistling filled the cockpit—and he knew why. The ground was rushing up to meet him—much faster than it should have been. Part of him wanted to just let go and let his jet meet the ground as Chris's had, but instinct took over. He pulled back on the control stick as hard as he could… and there was a slight lurch in his descent. It was leveling out! He was not going to be able to keep in the air, but maybe… _There!_ He forced the jet to turn slightly towards a freeway that had managed to survive the mayhem. He had no landing gear, so it was going to be rough.

The jet's tail section hit first, screeching loudly across the concrete, creating a shower of sparks behind the jet. The body and nose hit after, sliding and screeching the same. It began to rotate while sliding across the ground in the worst way. He had absolutely no control now. He let go of the control stick and put his hand on the ejection swift. But he never saw the solid wall created by an upheaval of dirt and concrete until it was too late. The F-16x had slowed down to the point that when the back of the jet hit it, it didn't do much more damage than already done, but it was going fast enough that the sudden stop made Powers' head jerked back and then got thrown to the side. When his head connected with the wall to the jet, darkness flooded his mind and he lost consciousness.

And, only a short bit away, a woman, carried by the wind in a parachute, landed and was quickly surrounded by multiple SwatBots that placed her into a Hovercraft surrounded by two other Hovercrafts. And then, after rising from the ground, the trio of Hovercraft flew towards Robotnik's central tower.

Knuckles let out a slight cry as Shadow, rolled up into a very tight and very quick ball, slammed into his knees with probably enough force to shatter the said knees if Knuckles was a mere human. In that moment of surprise, Shadow bounded up, out of his ball, and landed a strong punch on Knuckles' jaw. Knuckles took a step back, slightly stunned, but Shadow wasn't able to land another punch so easily!

Shadow blasted forward, using his hedgehog speed. Knuckles eyes widened and he crouched down and then leapt up, at the last second, and floated in the air about thirty feet up. Shadow skid to a stop, turned around, and prepared to blast at Knuckles again, but then his eyes widened… and he turned around again. He grunted and turned around—this time finally looking up. Knuckles gave him a smirk and prepared to fly down again, but suddenly something very hard hit him in the chest! It was _Shadow_! He had jumped up thirty feet, went into a ball, and imitated a cannonball! Knuckles, his concentration broken fell backwards through the air, Shadow on his chest, still as a ball, and slammed into the rain-soaked ground. The air was knocked from his lungs and he wheezed as he skidded across the ground before finally sliding to a stop ten feet away from the place he had hit.

Shadow, however, had bounced off of Knuckles when he first hit the ground and now stood, slightly hunched, breathing heavily, and glaring at the Echidna. Knuckles clenched his eyes shut, gritted his teeth, and forced himself up using his arms for support. He stood and looked at Shadow. Shadow looked at him. Both of them straightened. Knuckles' back joints all popped loudly. Shadow, twisting his neck, popped his neck in such a way it sounded like just a long crunch.

"Why are you two—" Summer started, but before she could finish, Shadow and Knuckles charged again. Knuckles threw a high punch, but Shadow ducked and tried to punch the former in the gut. Knuckles swept to the side and did a bone-shattering roundhouse kick to Shadow's head. But, instead of connecting with a solid object, it hit only air as Shadow dropped to the floor, rolling out of the way. Knuckles had barely enough time to land his foot before Shadow retaliated with a sweeping kick. Knuckles jumped into the air, doing a half flip so his face was at an angle aiming towards Shadow and then blasted through the, Knuckles outstretched. He hit Shadow in the chest and the two slammed back into the ground, rolling along the ground in a red and black ball. It was about two seconds before they were both back up, fighting with the same furiousness. But both were getting tired and hedgehogs, while able to be trained to fight extremely well, were built for speed and not battle—to be lovers and not fighters. Echidnas, however, were the exact opposite.

_WHAM!_ Knuckles' fist collided with Shadow's jaw like a pile driver. Before Shadow could fall to the side, Knuckles arm swung into motion, coming from the other way, cutting off Shadow's descent with a brain-jarring uppercut that sent the latter into the air into a slow back flip before hitting the ground, face first, on his belly. Shadow let out a low groan. His arms moved to push him up, but before he could reach halfway, they collapsed and he fell back down. He did not move to get up again.

Sonic ripped the ring off his finger and stuffed it in his jacket pocket. It was something Knuckles had told him. Injuries that one form received would not transfer to the second form and, more so, when the change had been completed, the form that had received injury would be healed. In layman's terms, it meant that Sonic was invincible to a great degree. Now, the only problem was actually waiting out the change…

The woman he had met was walking right in front of him—carrying the young Miles in her arms. Although Miles was about three-quarters her size and probably weighed nearly as much as she did—or so he thought—she was strong and carried him with a fair amount of ease.

So far, they had been walking in utter silence—and they'd been walking for maybe fifteen minutes. Sonic decided it was time to break the silence. "Hey, uh… thanks for saving my butt back there… I thought I was—"

She turned around and flashed him a grin, showing pearly white teeth. "Don't mention it—it's why I was in the forest in the first place!"

"You were in here just to save me?"

"To save anyone, you dummy!"

"Then… where do you live?"

The woman looked back again. "In another forest quite a long way from here. We'll be going there now."

Sonic blinked rapidly. "But…! I have friends in this forest! They could be…" He trailed off, not willing to finish the thought.

"I have _my_ friends—my entire village—scouring the forest right now. If your friends are still out there…" She paused and winced slightly at her choice of words. "…They'll find them. I promise."

Sonic's eyes betrayed his conflicting emotions, but he nodded weakly. "I hope you're right…" The woman didn't answer him. "Say… what's your name anyway?"

The woman looked back at him and smiled again—Sonic felt comforted in that smile and smiled back. "My name's Sally. Sally Acorn—the leader of the Knothole tribe!"

"Leader?"

"Well, my formal title is Princess—because I'm literally part of the royal family of Acorns—back when we had actual kings and queens… Now, the title stays, but the absolute power is gone. It's more of a democracy than a monarchy. But, either way, I am the official princess."

Sonic grinned and bowed—despite her moans of embarrassment and pleading with him to stop. "Sonic Hedgehog at your service, m'lady." At that moment, his eyes had been closed in mock deference. When he opened them, however, he found himself peering down in a puddle… and staring into deep, joyful brown eyes that twinkled with optimism. He found himself staring at short brown—nearly black—hair. He saw an oval-shaped face—unlike the circular face he had before. He had no snout, no quills, and no blue fur. And when his eyes shot back up to Sally's, she emitted an ear-piercing scream…


	11. Helplessness

Once again, sorry for the wait. Finals in school—and school in general—hindered my progress. That and just plain laziness. But, if it makes you feel better, my Kingdom Hearts novel has experienced the same wait, so you aren't alone in your feelings! Hope that I have the next chapter out faster. I truly pray I'll be able to.

I don't own Sonic or co.! I just own Summer, Jason, and a few others! The story is mine too, thank you! Winks However, if you ever desire to use any elements from it—even characters—just give me a head's up, eh? So I can read the story myself!

**Chapter 10: Helplessness**

Sally was hysterical. She had _watched him **change**_! Right before her eyes!

"Who are you!?" She screamed, backing up rapidly. He took a step forward, a pained look in his eyes. He held his arms out in a disarming fashion. It didn't do much disarming for Sally.

"Sally, it's… it's me! Sonic! I just," He sighed and put a hand to his forehead. "It's hard to explain, but—"

"_Start explaining!_" Sally demanded, still backing up. Suddenly, she found her back to a tree. Sonic, or whoever he was, took another step forward. Then another. His hands were still out. The pained, sympathetic look in his eyes had not faded.

"Sally, please, calm down some and I'll…" His voice trailed off in her mind. He wanted her to calm down. To _calm down!_ The idea seemed to her absurd. Insane! She just watched him changed before her eyes from a blue hedgehog to a _human being_ and he wanted her to calm down! She wondered if maybe she should have brought Shadow along when offered. Another part of her noticed that his voice and Sonic's voice were the exact same. The last part of her also noticed that he was within three feet from her. He was very tall compared to her. Oh, _why_ didn't she take Shadow with her?

"Sally, just calm down, don't panic…" He said quietly, with a nervous edge in his voice. Sally didn't answer him. Her eyes were wide and, what the human didn't know was that she was already formulating a plan of escape. Beside his feet was her pole—the man had dropped it when he changed forms. If only she could…

"It happened yesterday! My town was being destroyed and I was running and suddenly, while running, this pit under the ground collapsed and—" He stopped abruptly when Sally set Miles on the ground calmly… then suddenly dove forward, into a roll, and grabbed the stick by his feet. She ended up right behind him. Before he could even react, he felt something hard slam into his back. He stumbled forward. Stars exploded into vision as she brought the pole down onto his skull. He stumbled again and, this time, he tripped and fell. He threw out his hands to stop his descent, but, when he hit, his arms failed. He struggled to maintain consciousness.

"_Don't_ follow me!" Sally cried. He heard her clothes ruffle as she bent down and lifted Miles up once more, and then he heard her footsteps retreating into the forest. He groaned.

"No… don't…" He pushed up with his hands and managed to rise to a kneeling position. He took the ring from his hand and slipped it on his finger. The change was now nearly immediate. Blue fur and quills sprouted from his skin. His voice's pitch rose slightly and his eyesight grew sharper. He felt his teeth grow larger. His entire mouth and nose changed shapes immediately, pushing outward, away from his face. _SHLOOP!_ A bald, pink tail shot out from his backside, but was quickly covered with blue fur. He felt his ears move up the side of his head and grow triangular. For a moment, he had a falling sensation as he shrunk at least two feet. With the change, he felt a power surge through his body—centered in his legs.

"How in the _world_ am I gonna fix _this_ one?" Sonic wondered, scratching his head. He paused for a moment, then nodded. "Well, whatever. I need to get back Miles, at least." He shrugged and with hardly a second thought, he threw out his right leg. It hit the ground and within a split second, his left foot hit the ground in front of it. Then the right. Then the left. Within two second's time he was blasting through the forest at breakneck speed.

_Zero to Fast in the blink of an eye._ Sonic thought with a smirk as his eyes locked onto the brown-furred figure that was weaving in and out of trees a bit ahead. _I like it. I like it a lot_.

He moaned. His right leg twitched and his head shot up from its place, resting against the cold Plexiglas windshield. Jason Powers looked around, disorientated. Where was he? In a jet… yes, the F-16x. The Wolf. But why was he—

Powers was hit by a barrage of memories and moaned loudly as he remembered the events of the air battle. Blinking, he looked up to see what was happening, but saw that the air was still. The battle was over… and he had no idea what had taken place after his crash. He reached over and clicked the radio on.

Nothing.

He clicked it a few more times.

Silence. It was gone.

With a cry of frustration, he slammed his palm into the radio and collapsed back in his chair. His shoulders heaved and he resisted the urge to throw up. He couldn't lose it now. Regardless… regardless of everything… of Chris… of his crash… of his being alone… he had to be strong now. The time for sorrow would come later. Right now he had to get out of here—he was a sitting duck as it was.

"I wonder if…" He said out loud to no one. He reached up to a blue lever situated above his head and pulled it. The ship responded immediately. With a loud whirring, he felt the entire ship lurch and then it rose from the ground slowly. The wings folded onto themselves and then folded down, becoming canine-like legs. As the transformation continued, he reached behind his seat and pulled out a helmet that he then slipped over his head. He clicked a button on the side of the helmet and, for a moment, his eyesight went dark as a black shield dropped over his eyes. Then, in a flash of brightness, his vision was returned, albeit with a slightly different point of view. He was seeing what the Wolf 'saw' now. This allowed him to make faster reactions and gave him a better view of things in all directions. He clicked another button and the entire world brightened—new night-vision technology. To the right of his line of sight, he saw a small readout of the Wolf's conditions. There, it mentioned that the radio was out, as was the jet's magnet engine. He clicked another button it brought up a larger, 3D model of the entire Wolf, damaged areas highlighted in red. The hind legs had sustained a bit of damage each and would not move as fast as they could otherwise, but, other than that, he was good to go. He clicked the button again and his view of the outside world returned.

_This won't work. I don't have the slightest clue if I'm going to be ambushed or what!_ With a sigh, he clicked yet another button and suddenly the world turned a reddish color. This was his heat and energy vision. It would not only pick up heat signatures from living creatures, but would also pick up the energy signatures from machines such as tanks, jets, mines, or, in this case, robots.

He looked around the area in front of him. A little distance off—maybe half a mile to a mile was a contingent of robots heading his way. He would avoid them. He turned the Wolf to the left and looked around there. He spotted many robots, but none of them were coming his way. He noticed with a grimace that he hadn't seen a single human heat signature since arriving.

He turned further to the left… and nearly let out a cry. His vision brightened to a nearly white screen and he clenched his eyes tightly shut, lest he be blinded. What could give off that powerful of an energy signature?

He waited a few moments before opening his eyes. He was relieved to find that the computer had already compensated for the brightness and dimmed his vision to allow him to look at the bright light of energy. It was near the center of the city. A building of sorts. A skyscraper. But the main energy originated near the bottom of the tower—some of it glowing underground.

_That must be the main complex…_ _If that were destroyed, maybe it'd all be over…_ He knew it went against his training. What he should do is regroup with his squadron and then attack as a group. But…

_Chris…_

His muscles tightened and he grit his teeth. Forget training. He was out for blood. _Robotnik's blood_. His Wolf was plenty powerful enough to take down this building. A few laser bolts and a missile or two? _BOOM!_ Haha! Yes… he would do what he needed to do now… or die trying. And, frankly, he was no longer sure _what_ exactly he wanted.

The Wolf began moving across the ground at a quite high speed. Its legs were a blur. The ground, rumbling at every footstep, had engaged in a constant vibration. He blew past a barely standing building and the ground's shaking mixed with his rushing by caused it to crumble into mere rubble on the ground. Immediately ahead, he saw a squadron of Hovercraft jetting towards him. He whipped his scorpion-like tail into action and with deadly lasers hit each and every one, dropping them like flies. He charged towards the smoldering heaps and leapt over them nimbly. He heard a loud crunch and, while running, he looked behind and saw that a SwatBot had stepped out of one of the downed craft and he had crushed it. But he _didn't_ get the other SwatBots that were stepping out now.

Laser fire flew over the Wolf's shoulders. He spun around, sliding backwards about twenty feet before stopping. His opened the ship's mouth and revealed the large laser cannon within. The robots didn't have a chance to even duck and cover before the huge, orange bolt of energy lanced from his mouth and hit one of the Hovercraft. In a great ball of white fire, it exploded, causing the others with it to also explode, sending the robots flying. A few more tail shots and they were all damaged far beyond repair.

He spun around and continued his run. To his right! More SwatBots! One quick blast from his tail gun hit the leader in the legs, causing it topple. The others tripped over it. Powers continued running.

By now, alarms were going off within the city and Jason knew that SwatBots and Hovercraft would be surrounding him any minute now. This mission of his was suicidal. The robots outnumbered him hundreds—if not thousands to him one. And what startled him most was that he didn't even really seem to care.

The Wolf's head moved down into a ramming position and he braced himself as he saw the oncoming former house's outer wall heading his way. He felt a slight jerk as the machine plowed through it, destroying everything that remained of the house. He was less than a mile away from the tower now. He looked up and gasped. Surrounding the building was a sea of orange and white energy signatures. SwatBots. Hovercraft. Some tanks of sorts. Many other kinds of robot. They surrounded the building. A ring of death. It wasn't a very thick ring—but directly in front of him, he noticed it was getting thicker. Robotnik was moving most of the ring to that spot where he would breach it.

Powers thought for a moment about trying to go around to one of the weaker sides, but he knew he didn't have that kind of time. His best bet was in the element of surprise—which he was losing with horrifying speed. He then thought about turning back. And then thought otherwise. That would _not_ be acceptable.

He flipped a few switches and his entire armament was soon ready to be fired at any time. He had many mini-missiles. Larger missiles. Laser cannons. Mines. Grenades. B-guns (guns that used bullets instead of lasers). And then there was his tail and mouth laser. Yes, if he was to do this, he had a feeling he would need every single one. Starting now. He locked onto the front, middle, and back of the line of robot ground troops he was about to encounter and blasted off three large missiles. That would greatly even out the odds—if they hit.

He saw multiple Hovercraft flying his way and shot off a dozen mini-missiles to dwindle their numbers. He clicked another switch and felt, once again, as the Wolf shuddered. But it wasn't transforming back to the jet. No. It was merely becoming better. He prayed his damaged engine had been repaired to functional status since his crash by the Wolf's auto-repair ability. He, however, did not have time to check. Jason just hoped he didn't end up exploding when he started it up.

It was time to do this. He would fight to the bitter end. Nothing would stop this desperate man. He reached the first line of robots and smiled as he found that their numbers had been severely damaged by his missiles. With the flick of a switch, his engine hummed to life. So, it _did_ work. He felt the change in speed immediately and he blew through the first line of robots at a blinding speed. Laser fire came from all sides, most missing or being reflected harmless, but a few hitting. His screen showed a missile lock on him and he grit his teeth as he heard an alarm. It had been launched. He frantically locked onto the oncoming missile with his tail laser and fired. It exploded, but his entire ship rocked with the explosion. That had been close. Much too close.

He was in the middle of the fray now. Laser fire was coming from above and from all sides. He desperately tried to fire back, but there were just too many. He couldn't hope to _defeat_ this amount of enemies! No matter how many he destroyed, it just seemed they were replaced two to one! And, worse yet, he was being hit more and more. He was _lucky_ that his engine had not scored a direct hit nor any of his legs. But the second that _did_ happen…

…And then, just as soon as it had begun, it stopped. All laser fire, all missiles, all _robots_ merely stopped. Not a one moved. He frowned deeply and looked around in confusion. They hadn't been shut down—they all had continuing energy signatures. He kept going, firing at a few, but they stood there, even as their insides were melted by lasers.

"_Don't go any farther._" Jason cried out and looked around frantically for the voice. He realized seconds later that it came from his headset. His _radio_. His formerly thought broken radio. He grunted loudly when he realized Robotnik had probably had it jammed! "_You are surrounded on all sides. Although you probably don't know it, you have over three dozen missile locks on you at this very moment. At my command, every single one shall be fired._" A shiver ran down his spine and without even considering it a bluff, he powered down his magnetic engine and slowed to a stop. As one large movement, all robots directly surrounding him stepped backwards, forming a wide ring around him. He noticed suddenly that every one had some kind of weapon pointed directly at him. He was suddenly struck with the realization that there was no way he'd escape this. He would die this day, on this battlefield. He felt numb within.

There was a whining noise that filled the air and he watched as a much-larger-than-usual, deep red Hovercraft floated down and landed on the ground before him. He noticed an impressive amount of lasers on this ship. Every one was trained on him. Another shiver ran down this spine. He knew who was in this ship. A minute passed, the two ships at a standstill. Not a single thing moved. Another minute passed and a droplet of sweat ran down Jason's cheek. He quickly checked his scanners and found that still not a robot had moved in any way. All Hovercraft had mysteriously disappeared. He turned off his heat and energy vision so he could see it more clearly.

He jerked slightly as the side door to the Hovercraft hissed open and two SwatBots stepped out. These two SwatBots seemed like the commandos of robots. They each had much larger laser cannons instead of the weaker, normal ones. On their backs looked to be missile launchers. They were bigger and their eyes glowed a bright red. They marched in unison until they stood directly in front of the Wolf. Another two stepped out and stood right in front of the Hovercraft. All four faced the Wolf. Another two stepped out. And then… Jason sucked in a sharp breath as he watched as a large man stepped out behind them.

_Robotnik…_

Robotnik looked up at the Wolf and sneered. Jason had never seen the man in person—only in pictures at the briefing he and his wing mates were given before the mission. Then, he found the man ugly and, in some way, terrifying. Right now, he trembled. Honestly, Robotnik _wasn't_ much to look at in any way, but he had a terrible aura of authority and evil about him. The hundreds of lasers leveled on him didn't help much either. This man was nothing but _powerful_. Plain and simple. He had power within his grasp of the likes the US had never seen on its own soil. He had an army of expendable troops. No amount of destruction could truly defeat his army either. If his troops dwindled, he would make more. He was probably creating hundreds more at that very moment. No nation in the world had what this ugly, portly man possessed. He had power—and the black heart to go along with it.

Jason now knew that he would die. There was no doubt in his head. He trained all weapons on the one man and smirked coldly. Robotnik may have power, but Jason… Jason now had the man's life in his hands. Robotnik had made the terrible mistake of underestimating the pilot's willingness to win. He must have thought Jason would not have the blood to kill a man unarmed.

He was mistaken.

Powers fingered the trigger button. His fingered tightened slowly. He was relishing this moment. At the back of his head, he noticed that, still, even as Robotnik had watched as every weapon on this ship had aimed at him, not a single robot had moved. Robotnik did not look fearful. In fact, he still had the same sneer plastered on his dark face.

_And then Jason found out why._

From out of the ship stepped the final two Commandos. But there was a third individual with them. Christina Carmichael had definitely seen better days. She was bleeding from a few cuts on her head and along her arms. Her flight suit had been ripped and burned in some spots. She stumbled along with a limp. Her beautiful, black hair was matted in sweat and blood and stuck to her face and body. One of her hazel eyes was swollen shut from a horrible bruise. The other was barely open. She looked a though she had been drugged. One of the robots had a gun pressed to her temple. The two SwatBots forced her forward and came to a stop beside Robotnik. The laser was still at her head.

All time stopped for Jason at that moment. He realized as the cold shivers ran down his spine _why_ all robots had stopped fighting. He realized why Robotnik knew he wouldn't be harmed. And he realized truly how helpless he was. His entire body trembled. A choked sob filled his cockpit. A tear ran down his cheek and fell to his flight suit, creating a dark splotch.

"_Ahh, yes, Christina Carmichael is her name, is it not? Or, so says her nameplate._" Robotnik's voice filled his headset again. "_I judge by your reaction, that she is someone special to you. I figured as much with the way you've been fighting._" Jason watched with hatred as the man's mouth outside moved to form the words he was hearing.

"Let her go!" Jason cried in desperation. "Take me instead, but, for Heaven's sake, _let her go_!" Robotnik laughed.

"_I think not. She is my prisoner of war. Oh, but don't worry,_" He moved closer and ran his finger along her cheek. Jason flinched. "_she will not be killed. She's much too useful for that. In fact, I will say now that I won't lay a finger on her if you cooperate._" The air could have crackled with tension in the silence that ensued. If Jason cooperated? He had no choice. It was either do this… or lose her.

"What do you want?" Jason asked, his voice hoarse. Suddenly, Chris sparked to life.

"_No, Jason! Don't listen to him! Don't do anything he asks! Get out of—_" She was suddenly silenced as one of the robots at her side hit her in the back of the head with one of its metal hands. Her head slumped immediately. Jason's entire body twitched and he suppressed the urge to cry out in agony for her. He looked back to Robotnik and he knew that never before had he hated a man so much as he hated the man standing before him now. He was startled by the low moan that emerged from his lips. He truly _was_ helpless, wasn't he?

"_Good boy. Here are my instructions. Don't worry, I think even someone as stupid as you can follow them._" Robotnik still had the sneer on his face. His eyes danced with arrogance and assurance. And why not? He had Jason ready to do whatever he desired. "_I want you to go back to your pitiful little base… Jason, was it? Go back to your leaders. Tell them of everything you've seen today. Tell them of strengths and of weaknesses. Relay to them every bit of information you can muster. Tell them I await their attack. Tell them that, when they lose, I will be ready to be crowned king of this **fine** nation. Tell them I **will** win. And I will, dear Jason. Have no doubts about that. I have more power than you can even know. Even as I speak, thousands of robots are being deployed to various cities surrounding Mobius. Hundreds are being prepared for deployment. Thousands more are being built right now. I have at my fingertips more power than the world has ever seen. Biological and nuclear weaponry? Yes, I do, indeed have those too—although I do hope it doesn't come to that. It'd be a tragedy to lose so many subjects, no?_

"_Go now, Jason. Turn your little toy around and get out of my city. I grow tired of your games._"

Jason shook with fury. He prepared to turn the Wolf around, though. But not before his parting words. "You won't win, Robotnik." He spoke the name as if it was a curse. "_I'll_ make sure of it. I promise you, you will have your day of reckoning. You'll regret releasing me. I _will_ be back."

Robotnik laughed. It was nearly a cackle. It made Jason's stomach turn. "_I expect you to be back, Jason. I quite look forward to our next meeting. Although, next time, I sincerely doubt I'll be as merciful as this time. Now leave. I am sick of looking at the eyesore you call a ship. Just follow my Hovercraft and you shall leave the city and be pointed in the direction of your base._"

Jason grit his teeth and closed his eyes tightly. Another tear ran down his cheek. The Wolf slowly did an about face. The SwatBots parted like the Red Sea with Moses, providing him a clean pathway out of the swarm and out of the city. He began walking out and soon the Wolf accelerated to a run. Hovercraft flew in front of him, guiding him from the city.

He never did look back. If he did, it's possible he would have seen as Chris's body fizzled out of existence as Robotnik ordered the hologram that had shaped her turned off.

The rain had ceased, yet the black clouds remained hovering miles above, blotting out the sun. Yet, now they seemed darker. Blacker. How fitting, Jason thought. How fitting indeed.

Robotnik watched as the Wolf disappeared from view. He sneered once more and chuckled to himself at his cleverness. He looked to one of his SuperSwats and spoke, "Connect with Home." The robot's eyes flickered for a moment and then it nodded, signaling Robotnik had a connection. He smirked.

"Take the girl to the Roboticizer. Do not initiate the sequence yet, though. Wait for me to arrive. I have a few specifics that I desire to be carried out this time."


End file.
